Game 1: Washington 5, Houston 4

Starting Pitchers:

M. Scherzer: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7K

G. Cole: 7 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6K

After a walk-off victory in game 6 of the ALCS against the Yankees, the Astros were looking to continue their momentum in game 1 of the World Series. This momentum looked to still be alive after Yuli Gurriel double in the first inning to bring in Jose Altuve and George Springer to put Houston up 2-0 against Nats’ ace Max Scherzer.  The Nationals would answer with a 413-foot solo home run to center by Ryan Zimmerman in the 2nd inning to cut their deficit to 2-1. Young stud Juan Soto would knot the game at 2-2 in the 4th inning with a 417-foot solo shot to left-center. Adam Eaton continued to rack up runs for the Nationals with a single in the 5th inning to bring in Kurt Suzuki to give them a 3-2 advantage. Soto continued his dominance with a double in the same inning that would score Anthony Rendon and Victor Robles to make their lead 5-2. Springer would try to pull off a rally with a solo 428-foot shot to center in the 7th inning to make the game 5-3 and an RBI double to bring in Kyle Tucker in the 8th inning which would bring the game to its final score to 5-4. What was anticipated to be a strong outing by star pitcher Gerrit Cole ended in a whimper to put the Astros down 1-0.

Game 2: Washington 12, Houston 3

Starting Pitchers: 

S. Strasburg: 6 IP, 7H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7K

J. Verlander: 6 IP, 7H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6K

After a comeback victory in Game 1, the Nationals were looking to get on the board first in Game 2. An RBI double by Rendon that would bring Eaton and Turner to home plate in the first inning would bring those hopes to fruition. AL MVP candidate Alex Bregman would tie the game in the Astros half of the first with a 411-foot two-run home run to left to bring in Brantley. Despite each pitcher allowing 7 hits, this game would remain a pitchers duel until a red hot 7th inning for the Nats. Kurt Suzuki got the offense going again with a 381-foot solo homer to left to give Washington a 3-2 lead. But the Nationals were nowhere near done. Howie Kendrick singled to score Robles to make the game 4-2, and that would be followed by a single by Cabrera to bring in Soto and Turner to extend their lead to 6-2. Zimmerman would continue the hitting party with a single to bring in Kendrick, and Cabrera continued the damage by scoring on a throwing error by Bregman. A 6 run inning would put the Nats up 8-2 and a 2-run home run by Eaton that would rake in Robles would add salt to the wound for Houston to extend Washington’s lead to 10-2. Cabrera would single again in the 8th and Juan Soto would cross the plate for the Nats 11th run of the game. To finish off their rout, Taylor hit a 393-foot home run to left in the 9th inning, and all Houston would be able to muster in the bottom of the 9th was a 409-foot solo home run by Maldonado to end the game at 12-3. The Nationals now had a 2-0 lead as they left Houston and headed back to Washington.

Game 3: Houston 4, Washington 1

Starting Pitchers:

Z. Greinke: 4.2 IP, 7H, 1ER, 3 BB, 6K

A. Sanchez: 5 IP, 10H, 4ER, 1BB, 4K

The Astros were desperate to get something going in D.C. to prevent going down 3-0. An RBI single by Reddick that scored Correa in the second inning would help the Astros jump out to a quick 1-0 lead. Altuve would make it 2-0 in the 3rd inning after scoring on a single by Brantley. The Nationals would answer and make it 2-1 on an RBI triple by Robles to bring Zimmerman across the plate. Brantley would score Altuve again in the 5th to extend the Astros lead to 3-1. A solo 385-foot home run to left by Chirinos in the 6th inning to make the game 4-1 would seal the victory for the Astros to make the series 2-1. The Astros’ finally found a way to shut down the Nationals’ red-hot bats and avoid a possible sweep.

Game 4: Houston 8, Washington 1

Starting Pitchers: 

J. Urquidy: 5 IP, 2H, 0ER, 0 BB, 4K

P. Corbin: 6 IP, 7H, 4ER, 2B, 5K

AL MVP candidate Alex Bregman helped the Astros jump ahead early at 1-0 with an RBI single to score Altuve (who isn’t scoring Altuve at this point). Gurriel kept the offense going this inning with an RBI single that brought in Brantley to make the score 2-0. Urquidy was able to keep the Nationals offense quiet for the most part, but the Astros would add more comfort room in the 4th inning with a 2-run 404 foot home run to left field, giving Houston a 4-0 lead. Juan Soto would continue his strong postseason performance by preventing the Nationals from getting shutout with a sac-fly in the 6th to bring Parra in from 3rd base. Bregman would ice the game in the 7th inning by silencing Nationals fans with a 392-foot grand slam to left field. With this explosive game from the offense, the Astros were able to erase a 2 game deficit and tie the series at 2-2.

Game 5: Houston 7, Washington 1

Starting Pitchers:

G. Cole: 7IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 9K

J. Ross: 5IP, 5H, 4ER, 2BB, 1K

With their last game in Washington for this World Series, the Nationals were looking for a win and a series lead before heading back to Houston. The Nats’ expected ace Max Scherzer to make the start, but back and neck spasms would plague the star pitcher and was a late scratch, forcing Ross to get the start. But the Astros would strike first yet again with a 405-foot 2-run home run to center field by Yordan Alvarez in the second inning to make the score 2-0. Correra would keep the 2-run shots coming with a 396-foot home run to left to bring him and Alvarez to the plate build Houston’s lead to 4-0. Juan Soto would have the lone run of the game for the Nationals with a 383-foot solo shot to center field in the seventh inning, cutting their deficit to three runs at 4-1 late in the game. Gurriel would bring Houston’s lead back to four runs with an RBI single in the 8th inning to make the game 5-1. Leadoff man George Springer would give the ‘Stros bullpen some more breathing room in the 9th inning with a 435-foot moonshot of a 2-run home run to finish the game at 7-1, giving Houston a 3-2 series lead before heading back home.

Game 6: Washington 7, Houston 2

Starting Pitchers: 

J. Verlander: 5IP, 5H, 3ER, 3BB, 3K

S. Strasburg 8.1 IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K

After scoring three runs combined back in their home park, the Nationals offense was looking to get back on track. They would do just that in the first inning after an RBI single by Rendon to give the Nats’ a quick 1-0 lead. A sac fly by Altuve that scored Springer would tie the game at 1-1 in the first inning, and Bregman would give the Astros their first of the game with a 355-foot home run to left field. Both offenses would stay quiet as Strasburg and Verlander dueled it out, but Eaton would tie the game with a 381-foot home run to right field in the 5th inning. Soto would give the Nationals the lead back with a 413-foot home run to right field to make the score 3-2. Rendon would open this game up with a 353-foot 2-run home run to left field to extend Washington’s lead to 5-2. But Rendon wasn’t done and would have a 2 RBI double in the 9th inning to give the Nationals a 5 run lead at 7-2. This win would tie the series at 3-3 and would force a game 7.

Game 7: Washington 6, Houston 2

Starting Pitchers:

Z. Greinke: 6.1 IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 3K

M. Scherzer: 5.0IP, 7H, 2ER, 4BB, 3K

A crazy series where the away team won each game brought us to a Game 7 showdown in Houston. Yuli Gurriel would help the Astros get on the board first with a 389-foot home run off of Max Scherzer in the 2nd inning. The Astros were able to get more hits off of the ace but struggled to score with RISP. But the offense would finally break through again in the 5th inning with an RBI single by Correa to score Gurriel. Greinke continued to pitch a gem through the rest of the game, with his only blemish being giving up a 374-foot solo home run to Anthony Rendon in the 7th inning. This would lead to Greinke being pulled for Will Harris, who would give up  336-foot two-run home run off the foul pole, giving the Nats a 3-2 lead. An RBI single by Soto in the eighth inning would extend Washington’s lead to 4-2. The Nationals would then load the bases in the 9th, on the brink of victory, and Eaton would deliver with a double to score Gomes and Robles to extend their lead to 6-2. The game would with a 1-2-3 inning and the most important game of the season would end on a strikeout by Brantley. The Nationals earned their first-ever World Series title in their first-ever World Series appearance, with the series MVP going to 2009 first overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg.