Astros Sweep Three Games in Washington, Take 3-1 Lead in World Series

After the Washington Nationals won the first two games of the 2019 World Series in Houston over the Astros–including a 12-3 clobbering in Game 2–the red hot Nationals looked unstoppable, and the Astros left everyone wondering just how they managed to get 107 regular season victories plus the American League pennant.

Maybe it was all part of a Grand Strategy to get Washington overconfident. On October 27th, the Astros won Game 5 of the Series 7-1 at Nationals Park, to complete a sweep of all three games in Washington. The Astros return home needing to win just one more to win the World Series. Astros starter Gerrit Cole, who had gotten hit hard and took the loss in Game 1, gave up just one run on a home run by Juan Soto in seven innings. Houston had home runs by George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Yordan Alvarez.

Game 6 is October 29th, with Washington’s Stephen Strasburg up against Houston’s Justin Verlander. Strasburg has had an outstanding post season with a 4-0 record and 1.93 ERA in five appearances. He won Game 2 of the World Series; Verlander took the loss in that one. Verlander has been very good in the Division and League Championship Series in his career, but the World Series has been a different story. In six games in four World Series, Verlander is 0-5 with an ERA of 5.73. If Washington wins Game 6, the Series and the 2019 season will end with Game 7 on October 30th.