Former Mariner Doug Fister Pitches Nationals Back Into NLDS
By Dan Hughes

On the brink of elimination, facing an 0-2 hole in their best-of-5 series with the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals turned to former Seattle Mariner Doug Fister to save their season.
Fister did not disappoint.
The right-handed scattered four hits and three walks over seven scoreless innings and the offense took advantage some small ball and a costly Giants error as the Nats staved off elimination for at least one night, beating the Giants 4-1 in San Francisco.
After dropping the first two games of the series in Washington, including an 18-inning heart-breaker Saturday night/Sunday morning, the Nats needed Fister to give the bullpen a rest.
Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect 8th and Drew Storen got into some trouble in the 9th, allowing a run on a sac fly to breakup the shutout but managed to shut the door anyways to cut the Giants’ lead in the series to 2-1.
Fister, is another classic example of a promising young pitcher in the Mariners organization that found success elsewhere. In two-plus seasons with Seattle, Fister was 12-30 with a 3.81 ERA.
He was traded to the Detroit Tigers near the trade deadline in 2011 with David Pauley for Francisco Martinez, Chance Ruffin, Casper Wells and Charlie Furbush. Of those, only Furbush remains with the team.
In two-plus seasons with the Tigers, Fister was 32-20 with a 3.29 ERA. He was 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA in his first season with Washington.
The Giants look to finish the job Tuesday as the Nats look to tie the series and send it back to the Nation’s Capital for Game 5 on Thursday.
Game 4 is set to take place in primetime a 6:07 p.m. PT first pitch scheduled. Gio Gonzalez will take the ball for Washington. The Giants will counter with Ryan Vogelsong. The game will air on Fox Sports 1.
BOX SCORE
Batting
Washington
AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | SB | LOB | AVG | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denard SpanCF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .133 |
Anthony Rendón3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .467 |
Jayson WerthRF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .071 |
Adam LaRoche1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .071 |
Ian DesmondSS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 |
Bryce HarperLF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .214 |
Wilson RamosC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .077 |
Asdrubal Cabrera2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
Doug FisterP | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Tyler ClippardP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Nate SchierholtzPH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Ryan ZimmermanPH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
Drew StorenP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 34 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
Batting
HR – B Harper (2, 9th inning off J Machi 0 on, 0 Out)
S – W Ramos
RBI – B Harper (2), A Cabrera (2)
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – A Rendon 1, J Werth 1
Team LOB – 5
San Francisco
AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | SB | LOB | AVG | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gregor BlancoCF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .071 |
Joe Panik2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .133 |
Buster PoseyC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .357 |
Pablo Sandoval3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
Hunter PenceRF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .267 |
Brandon Belt1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .357 |
Brandon CrawfordSS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .231 |
Travis IshikawaLF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .200 |
Madison BumgarnerP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
Matt DuffyPH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Jean MachiP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Jeremy AffeldtP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals | 31 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 14 |
Batting
2B – H Pence (2, D Storen)
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – T Ishikawa 2, M Bumgarner 2, M Duffy 1
Team LOB – 8
Running
CS – B Belt (1, 2nd base by D Fister/W Ramos)
Fielding
E – M Bumgarner (1, throw)
Pitching
Washington
IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | WHIP | ERA | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Doug Fister(W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.00 | 0.00 |
Tyler Clippard(HLD, 2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.67 | 0.00 |
Drew Storen | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 6.75 |
San Francisco
IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | WHIP | ERA | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Madison Bumgarner(L, 0-1) | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1.00 | 2.57 |
Jean Machi | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 4.50 |
Jeremy Affeldt | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.60 | 0.00 |
Pitches-strikes – D Fister 99-64; T Clippard 11-7; D Storen 14-10; M Bumgarner 92-62; J Machi 18-13; J Affeldt 3-3
Ground balls-fly balls – D Fister 9-8; T Clippard 2-0; D Storen 1-1; M Bumgarner 8-8; J Machi 1-3; J Affeldt 1-0
Batters faced – D Fister 27; T Clippard 3; D Storen 5; M Bumgarner 29; J Machi 6; J Affeldt 1
Game Details
Game Time: 2:47.
Weather: 77 degrees, Clear.
Wind: 8 mph, Out to Center.
Attendance: 43,627.