For the Washington Nationals’ first game of the NL Championship Series, they will start a pitcher who has not beaten the St. Louis Cardinals in seven years.
Aníbal Sánchez, in his first season with the Nationals, will get the start in Game 1 on Friday. First pitch is set for 8:08 p.m.
He is 2-4 with 3.44 ERA in eight career starts against St. Louis, with the most recent win coming in 2012 when he pitched for the Miami Marlins.
The Cardinals are slated to start Miles Mikolas on Friday, Adam Wainwright on Saturday and ace Jack Flaherty in Game 3 Monday in Washington. The start times for Monday and Tuesday had not been announced as of Friday morning.
The Cardinals’ pitching coach, coincidentally, is Mike Maddux, who held the same job in Washington through 2017.
Meanwhile, current Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart is a native of St. Louis.
“I’m looking forward to going back to my birthplace. This has been an incredible journey,” Menhart told The Washington Times.
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