And, to Lindbergh's points, I watched the last two Nats/Braves games up close. The Braves seemed to fold under pressure. In the Lannan come-back game, and even more in the Detwiler walloping. I was sitting close to 1B during the Detwiler game, and watched a Nats player slam a ball into the dirt in from of home, with runner on probably 1B and 2B. Ball bounced high in the air, and I think P, 2B and 1B nearly collided trying to get it. They were slow, the ball slipped, and, even worse, I think somebody forgot to cover first.
We saw that in the SF series when SF pitcher grabbed a SF bunt but could not get a grip to throw to first. (Can't remember if the Nats won, but my sense is that I've seen opposing teams fumble a play like that far more often than the Nats do.)
For those old enough to remember the '78 WS, think of game 3 when Graig Nettles stretched three or four times to take hits away from the LAD. Or all the DP's that Dent and Brian Doyle (last minute replacement for Willie Randolph, who had pulled a muscle) made, leaping over the Dodgers at second, while the Dodgers complained that it was "hard" to turn a DP with so many people at Yankee Stadium yelling at them (Lopes or Russell...can't remember).
Winning teams make those plays.
