World Series - Nationals vs Astros

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Boris13c
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if you like pitching matchups, this is probably the World Series for you

Game 1 - Scherzer vs Cole
Game 2 - Strasburg vs Verlander
Game 3 - Corbin vs Greinke

whichever team's Big 3 has their A game going is the winner

for the 4th pitcher matchup, I give the edge to the Nationals with Anibal Sanchez vs whoever the Astros 4th guy is for this series

key for the Nationals is continue to get the big hits and have the starting pitcher give you 7 innings or as close to it as they can

key for the Astros is to continue their at bats where they hit what is offered and stay disciplined in hitting the other way and have the same 7 innings from their starters the Nationals need

I think this is going to be a good series ... and I expect it to go 7 games
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things."
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interesting first 2 games

Cole from the Astros hadn't lost a game since May ... he lost Game 1

Cole and Verlander hadn't lost back to back games ... Verlander lost Game 2

Verlander becomes first pitcher to lose his first 5 World Series decisions ... that stat is contrary to his career Hall of Fame numbers, but there it is ... and I am sure it will bug the hell out of him

the Nationals have won 18 of their last 20 games, 10 out of 12 in the playoffs (8 straight) ... they may not be the better team in the eyes of some, but they are the hottest team ... their pitching has been solid and their hitting has been timely and they lead the league (maybe all of MLB?) in runs scored after 2 outs, so they are always dangerous

the Astros are not out of this as they have it in them to go on a roll of their own ... but they better start soon
Stephen Strasburg quote from right after the Nationals clinched a spot in the World Series: “You have a great year, and you can run into a buzz saw. Maybe this year we’re the buzz saw.”
it is certainly looking that way
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things."
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A lot of times, the World Series comes down to who is peaking at the right time. It's why a wild card team can race through the playoffs and win the WS. The Nats are seeing the ball really well, and not missing opportunities. I never thought that they would be the Astros in a seven game series, but Houston looked rattled last night.
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Boris13c
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Game 3 starting pitchers will be Anibal Sanchez for the Nationals vs Zack Grienke for the Astros

Patrick Corbin was used in relief in Game 1 and is the projected Game 4 starter for the Nationals if he is not used in relief in Game 3 ... Astros Game 4 starter TBD
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Nationals waste opportunities, lose to Astros in Game 3 of World Series, 4-1

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... ame-three/

The Houston Astros beat the Nationals, 4-1, in Game 3 on Friday night. It pulled the series to 2-1, with the Nationals still ahead, yet it wasn’t particularly close. The Nationals went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They had one in each of the first six innings and scratched across a single run. They made two errors, tying their most of the postseason, and Manager Dave Martinez finally made an October decision that backfired.

The Astros, on the other hand, chipped away by getting four runs off starter Aníbal Sánchez in 51/3 innings. They benefited because what Martinez had decided, in a critical spot early on, was to keep Sánchez in despite a rare opportunity for the offense to strike. The deficit soon widened with Sánchez on the mound. The Nationals never pretended to close it. That ended their eight-game postseason ­winning streak — and not so suddenly because it took close to four hours for the Astros to take some momentum back.

now it is 2 games to 1, next 2 games in Washington
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Astros back in control after sweeping the 3 games in Washington ... the Nationals will now have to win 2 games in Houston ... if they do, they will become the first WS winner to win 4 games in the road
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and now on to game 7
Stephen Strasburg brilliant as Nationals overcome deficit, controversy to force Game 7 vs. Astros

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/m ... 04973001/]

HOUSTON — This World Series is going to the Max.

In a back-and-forth Series featuring unprecedented success for the road team and the steely resolve of two clubs now far beyond proving they are championship caliber, the Washington Nationals forced a winner-take-all climax by prevailing in a battle of towering aces and redoubtable sluggers, riding their greatest hitter and most dominant pitcher one more time to set the stage for an unforgettable climax.

Max Scherzer, summoning a miracle cure somewhere between a Saturday cortisone shot and a cross-country flight Monday, will take the ball in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night, a championship up for grabs after a Game 6 on Tuesday night that cemented several legacies and sullied several others – including Major League Baseball’s.

In the end, the burgeoning October legends of Stephen Strasburg and Juan Soto were not to be denied. Strasburg has pitched in six games in these playoffs and the Nationals have won them all, none more important than Tuesday’s taut, gut-wrenching and occasionally absurd 7-2 conquest of the Astros.


that was quite an interesting game ... the controversy part was a bizarre call at first base in the top of the 7th
The Nationals even survived an objectively bad call from home-plate umpire Sam Holbrook, who called Trea Turner out on interference despite Turner’s maintaining a straight line all the way down the basepaths to first.

A 4 minute, 34-second replay review upheld both the call and the return of Yan Gomes to first base, and Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected after raging at the umpires after the inning.

He should have relaxed: Third baseman Anthony Rendon rode a Will Harris pitch and an apparent karmic wave out to left field for a two-run homer that accounted for some crucial insurance. He later tacked on a two-run double in the ninth.
if you didn't see it, Trea Turner of the Nationals hit what could be deemed a swinging bunt ... the pitcher fielded it and made a crap throw to first, which Turner clearly appeared to beat ... Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel tried to tag Turner as he went by and dropped both the ball and his glove ... umps ruled Turner out for interference ... Turner ran a straight line from the batters box to first, didn't deviate and certainly did not run into the first baseman ... the call was terrible and after a 5 minute replay delay, they still got it wrong ... fortunately it did not affect the eventual outcome ... but it could have

Joe Torre (head of MLB umps) did his best Alberto Riveron impression with some mealy mouthed bullshit explanation after the game which did nothing to clear things up
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things."
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Nationals win in 7
'We're all living the dream': Inside the Nationals' astonishing World Series run

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/279 ... series-run
The seventh inning that shocked Houston and made the Nationals World Series champions

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/279 ... -champions
The 2019 World Series Defied Everything We Know About Home-Field Advantage

https://www.theringer.com/mlb-playoffs/ ... ge-history

This was the first World Series in which all seven games were won by the road team, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. It was the first best-of-seven series in any major American sport in which the road team won every game. In fact, this marked the first time in 1,420 best-of-seven MLB, NBA, or NHL postseason series that the road team even won the first six games—let alone the decisive Game 7.

the Nationals had an amazing run ... one of those had to see it to believe it runs
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things."
George Carlin
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