Preaching patience at the plate

SAN FRANCISCO - There's been a lot of attention put on Matt Williams' decision to take Jordan Zimmermann out in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series in favor of Drew Storen.

Williams' plan didn't go as he had hoped, the Nationals' 1-0 lead evaporated, and they ended up losing 2-1 in 18 innings.

Some fans and media members also spent part of Friday night and Saturday morning discussing Stephen Strasburg's outing, in which he went five innings and allowed two runs (one earned), saying that the Nats needed more out of their ace.

But the bottom line is this: The biggest reason that the Nats trail 2-0 in this five-game series isn't Williams' managerial decisions or their pitching not being good enough. The larger issue through these two games has been the Nats' inability to push runs across.

As a team, they're batting just .160. They're 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position, have stranded 18 runners and have scored just three runs in two games.

They've certainly faced some tough pitching, as Giants starters Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson have carved, working on the corners and keeping the ball down. But Williams says he's also seen his hitters be a bit jumpy through these two games, and that's something that needs to be corrected if the Nats are to make a comeback in this series.

"I just think that it's a little bit of impatience," Williams said. "Both guys (the Giants) have pitched against us live down in the strike zone and below the strike zone. So the key is to be patient. And I think that we have swung at some pitches that have been down and out of the strike zone, which has resulted in some early outs and not being able to string things together. Doesn't get any easier (Monday) for sure, so we have to get back to what we do and relax and go about our business."

Hitting coach Rick Schu agreed that guys have been pressing at the plate and expanding out of the zone, and would like to see more relaxed approaches from his hitters.

"There's been a lot of early-count contact," Schu said. "Some of our guys who (tend to) see pitches (and) work the count a little bit, have been early contact and chasing the ball out of the zone. Typically our offense is a bunch of grinders that have a game plan and swing at their pitches. I think the combination of the time off and us pressing a little bit, trying to do too much, because guys want it so bad, we've had such a great year. We want to keep playing. We've just got to get back to relaxing and sticking to our approach."

Denard Span said that Saturday's 18-inning game was probably the most upset he's been in a long time. Span went 0-for-7 in that ballgame, including five more groundouts to the right side, which you tend to see from the Nats' leadoff hitter when he's struggling offensively. He's now 0-for-11 with a walk so far in the series.

Span can only speak for himself, obviously, but he doesn't think there's anything mechanically wrong with his swing through these first two games. He admits he's just pressing a bit, given the magnitude of the games.

"Just geeked up, trying too hard," Span said. "I think we all want to do good, especially this time of year. I've got to find a find a way to slow it down and let the game come to me instead of trying to chase it. Just got to trust myself and do what I've done all year."

It won't get any easier today with Madison Bumgarner on the mound for the Giants. But the Nats know that regardless of which pitcher they face, they need to get back to doing what they do best - grinding out at-bats, waiting for their pitches, and making the opposing pitcher work.

"I think that in a sense, yeah we have been chasing," Ian Desmond said. "But in a sense, that's credit to them. They haven't been making mistakes over the middle of the plate either. And that's crucial. That's how big innings are created, when pitchers are missing over the middle. And they haven't been doing that. We've got to wait them out and then hopefully get a mistake."