If it was an extremely entertaining regular season and exhilarating start to the post season, the World Series have taken it to whole another level. The home teams and fans might argue: for the first time ever, the first six games have been won by the visitors, which takes us to the legendary game seven where the winner takes it all.
The Nationals were considered outsiders from the start, with Astros doing everything a little bit better. But the Washington side didn’t let that bother them and took a narrow 4-5 victory in the opening affair in Houston on the shoulders of ace Max Scherzer who kept Astros hitters well at bay. The second game saw Nationals batters burst in flames as they pounded 12 runs, 10 of which came in the final three innings, against the struggling Astros who only managed three against fantastic starter Stephen Strasburg and the trio of closers. Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander as Astros starters had seen better performances. Astros were in hot water leaving home to play the next three in Washington.
Like so many times before, Astros picked up their game when they had to. In the three games in Washington, they only allowed one run each. Zach Greinke, Jose Urquidy and Gerrit Cole as starters won their battles against Anibal Sanchez, Patrick Corbin and Joe Ross, who came in as a replacement for Max Scherzer’s injury. In those three games, Astros outscored tha Nationals 19-3 and took the series lead back to their own hands and home turf.
Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer’s injury spelled trouble for the underdogs, but when the top dog goes out, the next one needs to step up. Stephen Strasburg was the next one and almost single handedly kept the Nationals in the game to start the game six in Houston. He allowed five hits, two runs and recorded an ERA of 2.51 while playing for all but one inning. With their back to the wall, Nationals batters found their groove again and scored three runs against a bit shaky Justin Verlander in five innings and then went on to add four more vs bullpen trio of Chris Devenski, Will Harris and Brad Peacock. The Astros didn’t manage to build up any momentum while chasing and Nationals were the deserved winners to force the game seven.
The last issue of the World Series will be played right away. Max Scherzer is set to start for the Nationals while Astros will send out Zach Greinke. Whichever team is to win the World Series, it’s been one heck of a ride so far and nothing less is expected from the game seven!
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