The Yell: Bumgarner's critical error in Game 3 opens door

SAN FRANCISCO -- Postseasons are remembered for remarkable moments – things that become know as The Homer or The Catch or …

The Yell?

Wilson Ramos getting a two-strike sacrifice bunt down could on its own been one of those moments for the Washington Nationals – after all, the burly catcher hadn't done it since 2011 – but what happened next saved his team's season.

It's a giant step from saving to turning around a playoff series,but the Nationals are gladly grasping onto the moment that led to a 4-1 victory and now just a 2-1 deficit in the best-of-five series.

Locked in a scoreless duel with Doug Fister and facing a two-on, no-out situation in the seventh inning, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner grasped the baseball after Ramos dropped a bunt in front of the mound.

Ramos, probably the slowest man on the roster, and merely thrilled to get the ball "on the ground – anywhere," then heard the words that only added to the pounding of his heart.

"I heard Buster Posey yell, 'Third base, third base,' " Ramos says, suddenly afraid he hadn't bunted well enough to advance the runners on base.

One loss from elimination in this Division Series, the Nationals couldn't afford any mistakes, any lack of execution.

" I said, 'Oh, lord,'" Ramos recalls.

That's when he stole a peek toward third base.

"Yeah, I was watching," he says. "And trying to run hard to avoid the double play."

No double play. Not even an out at third.

More like a jackpot for the run-starved Nationals.

A wild throw from Bumgarner so far into left field that Ian Desmond scored from second, Bryce Harper scored from first and the game, the series, quite possibly Washington's season changed.

"It's a big play for us," says Drew Storen, who had his own personal turning point two innings later when he got the final three outs. "I've been saying all along we just need one little break."

Nationals manager Matt Williams understood the gamble of asking Ramos to bunt. Third base coach Bob Henley walked down from the third base coaching box to make sure Ramos understood after Desmond singled and Harper walked against a pitcher with a 22-inning scoreless streak.

"It's a dire situation," Williams says. "We've got to try to score. So, it's important for us to be able to execute there."

The Giants, who've built a reputation for using sound fundamental baseball to their advantage, didn't.

Posey's decision and recommendation were a mistake to begin with.

"That was not a good decision and, sure, you wish you could have it back," Giants manager Bruce Bochy says.

Bumgarner's throw was worse.

"He tried to do too much," Bochy says. "Take the out (at first). He tried to rush it. He threw it away. He threw it away well, too."

Maybe the Nationals score anyway if it's merely a successful sacrifice. After all, two runners in scoring position with one out.

We'll never know.

As for momentum swings and season-changers, Williams says, "Everybody was well aware of where we were at. You know, it doesn't change for tomorrow. Same situation."

He's right. lose the next game and this will be a mere footnote in another team's post-season story.

But the Nationals have their own narrative now.

"The momentum shifted and we felt it," says Tyler Clippard, who pitched a scoreless eighth after Fister stymied the Giants on four hits through seven innings.

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Whether it was being thrust into the total underdog situation or the surreal nature of their 18-inning loss in Game 2, Clippard saw a different team in Game 3, the familiar one that had the best record in the National League this season.

"We played a lot more relaxed, clean baseball," he says.

And Clippard is especially pleased for his bullpen buddy Storen, who gave up the two one-out-away hits that sent Game 2 to extra inning after carrying the burden of losing the last game of the 2012 playoffs.

"That was huge, especially getting the first two runners on and shutting the door after that," Clippard says.

Yes, Storen allowed a single to Pablo Sandoval – the guy with game-tying Game 2 hit – and double to Hunter Pence to start the bottom of the ninth.

Enter the demons.

No, Storen slammed that door.

"I dug myself a nice little hole there to start but you can't give in," he says. "Get outs, get outs and don't leave anything over the plate for them to take advantage of. You can't change anything that just happened. You say alright, we have to make the most of this. I want to be out there finishing that."

Finishing that, Storen says, allows he and his teammates to, "Build off it as a team, build off it personally."

And there's also that potentially destructive side for the Giants to deal with. They know what's possible here, having come back after losing the first two games of a Division Series to Cincinnati in 2012.

So, the pressure shifts?

"Maybe, you'd have to ask them," Clippard says. "It's up to us to keep it on our side. Baseball's a weird thing."​