Comparative dates on which the Nationals notched their 79th win, each season:
2012 - 30th August (130th match of season)2005 - 26th September (157th match)
2011 - 26th September (159th match)
---
2007 - finished 73-89
2006 - finished 71-91
2010 - finished 69-93
2008 - finished 59-102
2009 - finished 59-103
---
THIS DAY WITH THE '05 OVERACHIEVERS: Tuesday 30th August 2005 saw the Nats edge the Braves 3-2 at Atlanta...Patterson had to leave early with stomach cramps but the bullpen pitched 6 1/3 shut-out innings for the win...record now 68-63...
http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=250830115.---
Looked maybe a bit bigger than the announced 23,269 attendance (I was guessing mid/high 20's). Biggest crowd we've ever gotten into Nats Park for a Cardinals visit was 32,357 on Thursday 5th June 2008...smallest was 18,007 on 30th April 2009, another Thursday fixture.
Not as many Cards supporters in the house last night as we normally get, either.
---
Cardinals barely hanging on to the second wild card, just a half-game ahead of the Pirates...that run they scored in the eighth last night is their only one in their past three matches, odd for a team that still leads the NL in run differential.