Peavy upstages Strasburg, Giants lead series 1-0

WASHINGTON – Breaking down Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park.

Box score: Giants 3, Nationals 2, Giants lead the series 1-0.

Jake Peavy upstaged the long-awaited post-season debut of Stephen Strasburg with the help of some tense bullpen moments as the San Francisco Giants held the Washington Nationals to six hits in a 3-2 victory. An amped-up Strasburg threw hard, rookie Hunter Strickland threw harder in the game's most crucial moment but Peavy was crafty enough to beat the kid who, as a high-schooler, loved to watch him.

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State of the series: Beyond the obvious lead in the series, the Giants chip away at two perceived Washington advantages by winning a game on the road and setting up top pitcher Madison Bumgarner to start Game 3 in San Francisco on Monday with no worse than a 1-1 series. Game 2 is Saturday in Washington with veteran Tim Hudson starting for San Francisco against another of the Nationals' dominant starters – Jordan Zimmermann, who's coming off a no-hitter.

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Anything you can do: Turns out Strasburg's heat – 63 of his total 89 pitches were 95 mph or above – wasn't as good as it gets. Strickland entered the game with a 2-0 lead, bases loaded and two out in the sixth. He struck out Ian Desmond on three pitches – 98, 99, 100 mph -- to end the inning. Yes, Strickland gave up seventh-inning homers to Bryce Harper and Asdrubal Cabrera in what became a strikeout-homer-strikeout-homer pattern that surely wouldn't work out well long-term, but he the kid with less than a month in the big leagues got the biggest out of the game.

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The Zim factor: Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals' long-time third baseman, is a pinch-hitter deluxe as he comes back from a hamstring injury. He factored into a couple of inning as the Nationals tried to come back. With two on and two out in the sixth, Giants manager Bruce Bochy replaced Peavy with lefty specialist Javier Lopez to face Adam LaRoche, knowing right-handed Zimmerman was lurking. Nationals manager Matt Williams stuck with LaRoche, though he was 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts in his career against Lopez. He walked, but that's when Strickland came through with the big whiff of Desmond.
Zimmerman flied out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh after the Nats had cut the deficit to 3-2.

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Staying in contact: Just putting the ball in play paid dividends for the Giants. Joe Panik turned around a 97 mph Strasburg fastball for an RBI single in the third, a situation set when Travis Ishikawa singled, beat a throw to second when LaRoche tried for a force on Peavy's bunt and moved to third on a passed ball. Three singles and a stolen base produced the second run in the fourth and the decisive run came when Buster Posey rolled a ball barely through a drawn-in infield after Panik's triple leading off the seventh.

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Mentoring: Peavy calls his relationship with Strasburg, "A neat story behind the story." It's more front and center now that the veteran beat the kid he's grown closer to thanks to their San Diego backgrounds. They've worked out together, text regularly, even lived in the same San Diego-area neighborhood for awhile.

It certainly was a contrast in styles. Strasburg's first eight pitches were 97 or 98 mph and 63 of his total 89 pitchers were 95 or above. But his command was off just enough – as in not locating exactly where he wanted in the strike zone – that he struck out just two and the Giants squared up plenty of fastballs in addition to their eight hits.

Peavy just mixed and matched, pretty much peaking at 91 mph and held the Nationals hitless until Bryce Harper led off the fifth with a single.

Any which way: Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond found himself in a couple of critical situations and, no matter the style of pitcher he was facing, came up empty.

After Strickland blew him away, Desmond got another chance with two on and one out in the eighth against the decidedly lower-velocity Sergio Romao. But the Gaints deposed closer got him swinging wildly against a couple of off-speed pitches.

GALLERY: NLDS - NATIONALS vs. GIANTS