Of the Cardinals’ few chances to truly silence a sellout crowd that came to Nationals Park with plans to celebrate baseball history, the best came with one out in Tuesday night’s fifth inning.

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Goldschmidt’s fifth-inning strikeout on Patrick Corbin’s low, out-of-the-zone pitch loomed large in this loss. His team did not score after it. His quiet departure into the offseason wrote an unpleasant finish to what must be described as an overall disappointing debut season as the tent pole of the Cardinals’ lineup for years to come. The pro took the blame and took his lumps after the loss.