Nationals showed some fight in Game 3 to earn right to play tonight

It was good to see the fight the Nationals showed in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Doug Fister deserves a ton of credit. Bryce Harper played well in the field, drew a walk and hit a crucial solo homer in the ninth. That gave Drew Storen some room to breathe and he battled out of a two-on jam in the bottom of the ninth.

You got the feeling that this team was better than their two games to none hole in the bets-of-five series and they proved it with a 4-1 win.

It will now be interesting to see how left-hander Gio Gonzalez performs in another must-win spot. It is the first time in the series the Nats have trotted out a southpaw against this lefty-heavy Giants lineup. You wonder how much San Francisco manager Bryce Bochy will attempt to tweak the lineup because he has to face Gonzalez.

Nationals manager Matt Williams did not change his lineup and it paid off in Game 3. Denard Span got a couple of hits and so did Anthony Rendon, so the top of the lineup has started to get on base. Harper, of course, had a big game. It would be nice to see if Adam LaRoche can get some good pitches to hit today and break out of this rough series slump. Rendon has seven hits in the series, while the rest of the starters (non-pitchers) have 13 hits.

One of the lasting images of Game 3 was the Wilson Ramos bunt and Madison Bumgarner going to third. The off-line throw allowed two runs to score and the Nationals were able to score three in the inning.

Amazingly enough, the Nationals have won four of their five matchups in AT&T Park this season. The Nationals have held the Giants to six runs in three games. The Nationals' only-extra base hit of their seven hits yesterday was Harper's home run. So both teams' pitching has been stellar.

Again, the Nationals will need Gonzalez to establish his game early. Again, it would be nice if the Nationals could score early, something they have done only once in the series.

It's not a must-win for the Giants, so if the Nationals can plate some runs versus Ryan Vogelsong in the first three innings, that will give Gonzalez some breathing room and turn the pressure to get some runs toward San Francisco. If the Nationals can do that, they have a shot to turn the series back to D.C. But the bottom line is that it sure is nice to be talking about Game 4.