WASHINGTON (AP) _ Washington’s Juan Soto delivered a bases-loaded single against Josh Hader that scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Nationals rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night.
After Hader loaded the bases by hitting one batter, walking another and allowing a bloop single, Soto took a 96 mph fastball to right, and the ball skipped under outfielder Trent Grisham’s glove. That error allowed one of the runs to cross the plate.
Stephen Strasburg threw three scoreless innings to earn the win in the first relief appearance of his major league career, regular season or playoffs. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth for the save.
The Nationals, so familiar with playoff heartache, advanced to face the NL West champion Dodgers in the best-of-five Division Series. Game 1 is Thursday in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Sean Manaea will start Wednesday’s AL wild-card game for the Oakland Athletics against the Tampa Bay Rays just more than a year removed from shoulder surgery. The left-hander earned the nod over Mike Fiers in a tough decision.
Manaea returned from injury later than he had hoped but immediately found a groove. He went 4-0 with 1.21 ERA in five September starts following the operation last September.