Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper hit a monster home run off Hunter Strickland in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on Saturday. Afterward, the Giants reliever said he wouldn’t be afraid to challenge Harper again.

The Nationals needed a win Tuesday night to have the opportunity to play at least one more game this year. Bryce Harper set the stage with a game-tying home run in the top of the seventh.

Another October, another looming World Series berth awaits either the Cardinals or Giants. Thanks to National League Division Series Game 4 victories for each team on Tuesday, either the Cardinals or Giants will represent the NL in the Fall Classic for a fifth consecutive season.

The Giants’ 3-2 decision over the Nationals in Tuesday’s Game 4, which clinched the best-of-five National League Division Series for them by a 3-1 margin, featured the elements that propelled them to the World Series in 2010 and 2012. Pitching. Defense. And a certain kind of stubbornness, pride, or both that enables them to believe that while they may encounter better teams, they won’t face better competitors.

A pair of stray pitches highlighted a bizarre sequence in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday, which gave the Giants a one-run lead before ending their rally, though they held on for a 3-2 victory and a date with the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series.

Nationals owner Mark Lerner circled through the silent visitors’ clubhouse at AT&T Park on Tuesday night, stopping each player he came across to say a few quiet words. General manager Mike Rizzo did the same.

The Giants have been here before, having locked up their third National League Championship Series trip in the last five years. The previous two ended in World Series parades. But that doesn’t make the moment any less sweet.

Conventional has always been an antonym for Hunter Pence, so it should come as no surprise that one of the best catches of Pence’s Major League career was anything but on Tuesday night.

The crescendo built slowly, with one out in the seventh. A hit from Joe Panik. A hit from Buster Posey. A pitching change. And the new Nationals pitcher, rookie Aaron Barrett, admitted to “trying to do a little too much.”

The quest for baseball’s greatest prize began with 30 teams in February, and the field of World Series hopefuls was pared to 10 in September. Now there are four, including two that have some serious October history between them meeting in the NLCS.

It wasn’t easy, but the Giants got the job done on Tuesday night, as they have so often in recent years. Their hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Nationals in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at AT&T Park gave them a 3-1 series win and sent them on to face the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series.

On his own pitching staff, Ryan Vogelsong rates mostly as unheralded. But in the postseason, the 37-year-old right-hander has few peers.

A year ago, instant replay was tested in the Arizona Fall League and then implemented in the 2014 regular season. This time around, initiatives developed by Major League Baseball’s Pace of Game Committee will be tried on for size.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny never lost his faith. His team, which was such a productive offensive unit a year ago, seemingly struggled all season long. Those key hits with runners in scoring position never came with the frequency of 2013, and the power production was stymied. Finally the power has come — just in time for the postseason.

The Cardinals earned a 3-2 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NL Division Series on Tuesday to advance to their 13th Championship Series overall — the most in NL history. They are the first team to reach the LCS four consecutive times since the Yankees did it from 1998-2001.

In a series where home runs carried the Cardinals to a two-games-to-one-lead in the National League Division Series, Matt Adams knocked Clayton Kershaw out and sent the Dodgers home with a blast in Game 4 on Tuesday. It erased a two-run deficit, sent the home dugout into a frenzy and lifted the Cardinals to a 3-2 win, their fourth postseason victory in two October series against baseball’s best pitcher.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly understands he’ll be the focus of the postmortems. He had 10 different managers during his 14 seasons as a player for the Yankees. Billy Martin had three tours of duty during his time. So Mattingly understands that managers get dismissed for all sorts of reasons and that they get blamed for things they shouldn’t be blamed for.