Which Gio Gonzalez will fans see Friday night? The one who walked seven batters in five innings against St. Louis in the NL Division Series opener? Or the left-hander who hasn't allowed an earned run in his past 23 innings pitched at home? (Richard Lipski/Associated Press)

The Washington Nationals are hoping the momentum of a dramatic victory in front of a raucous crowd will carry over into another must-win game.

The St. Louis Cardinals believe their post-season experience over the last two years will help them with their season on the line yet again.

This National League Division Series concludes Friday with Game 5 in Washington (8:37 p.m. ET), where Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez has not allowed an earned run over his last 23 innings.

Washington won 2-1 on Thursday on Jayson Werth's leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth off Lance Lynn. Werth had not homered since Sept. 8.

'We got a lot of experience, a lot of confidence built.'— Cardinals 1B Allen Craig in discussiong his team's chances

"It's what it's all about. It's what you play all season for and what you work out all winter for and what you get to spring training early for," said Werth, who connected to cap a 13-pitch at-bat. "We have a chance tomorrow to take that next step. I know my teammates will be ready and the city will, too."

St. Louis went 4-0 when facing elimination en route to winning the World Series last year, and won 6-3 at Atlanta last Friday in the inaugural wild-card playoff game. Now the Cardinals find themselves in the same situation one week later.

"We got a lot of experience, a lot of confidence built," first baseman Allen Craig said. "Just going to the World Series and winning the World Series, having to play a Game 7 and come out on top — you're seeing a lot of us use that experience so far in this post-season.

Turning point

"We had a tough, do-or-die game in Atlanta and came out on top, and after we won that game, I think we started to feel really good about ourselves and get that feeling like we had last year."

The Cardinals were limited to three hits Thursday after totaling 20 runs and 27 hits in consecutive victories that gave them a 2-1 series lead.

It's up to Gonzalez (0-0, 3.60 earned-run average) to hold St. Louis in check Friday. He made his playoff debut Sunday in Game 1, allowing two runs and walking seven over five innings in a 3-2 road victory.

"It was my first post-season game, no excuses, but the way I see it is playing in someone else's house, pretty rowdy," Gonzalez said. "It's pretty exciting. You catch yourself at the moment, take a step back and take a deep breath and try to find it again."

The left-hander figures to be more confident at home, where he has won his last four outings including his 23-inning stretch without yielding an earned run. He dominated St. Louis by striking out eight in a five-hitter during a 10-0 home victory Aug. 31. Gonzalez will once again be up against Adam Wainwright (0-0, 1.59), who also limited the damage by yielding one run over 5 2/3 innings in the opener - his second career post-season start. Wainwright became the first Cardinal to strike out 10 in a playoff game since Bob Gibson in 1968.

"Same thing with Wainwright, he kept his team in the game he went 5 2/3 and one earned run," Gonzalez said. "You look at it as we both went out there and competed and you learn from it and you make adjustments and you go out there and attack the strike zone."

Wainwright also fared well against Washington on Sept. 28 as he earned a 12-2 victory by allowing one run over six innings.

Hit hard

He was hit hard at Nationals Park on Aug. 31, though, opposing Gonzalez and giving up six runs over a season-low 2 2/3 innings.

The right-hander owns a 0.77 career post-season ERA including nine relief appearances. He's no stranger to pressure situations, striking out current teammate Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded for the final out to preserve a 3-1 victory over the Mets in Game 7 of the 2006 NL Championship Series.

"Of course I wish we would have won [Thursday], but you know what? This is every pitcher's dream, I would say," Wainwright said. "Every competitor's dream is to go in huge moments like that, so I look forward to the challenge."

The Nationals have been outscored 23-9 in this series and teenage all-star Bryce Harper continues to struggle, going 1-for-18 with six strikeouts. Adam LaRoche entered Thursday 1-for-11 in the series before homering in the second inning to give Washington the lead.

Manager Davey Johnson doesn't sound concerned about the lack of offence.

"We won with three hits [Thursday]; a couple big blasts," he said. "But I'd rather see that kind of game, it's more fun for me to manage that kind of game than, you know, a 10-9 game."

The winner advances to face San Francisco in the NLCS, which begins Sunday.