*Photo from the Denver Post*
Washington leads series 2-0
Stephen Strasburg outpitched Justin Verlander, The Nats hitting erupted, and the Washington Nationals cruised to a 12-3 win over the Houston Astros to take a 2-0 lead in the world series. Strasburg, who was famously held out of the postseason in 2012, is getting his chance, and he's making the most of it. He had a shaky start to the game, but quickly settled in after that.
The Nats took a quick lead in the first inning when Anthony Rendon hit a two run double to left field to give Washington a 2-0 lead. The Astros quickly tied it at two in the bottom of the first on an Alex Bregman two run homer to left field. It stayed that way until the 7th inning, when the Nats exploded. Kurt Suzuki hit a solo homer, Howie Kendrick hit an RBI single, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two run single, Ryan Zimmerman hit an RBI single, and Cabrera scored on a fielding error to make it 8-2. In the 8th, Cabrera hit an RBI single and Adam Eaton hit a two run homer to make it 11-2. In the 9th, Michael A Taylor hit a solo homer, and Martin Maldonado hit a solo shot in the bottom half to make it 12-3.
Strasburg pitched 6 solid innings, giving up two runs on 7 hits and one walk. He struck out 7 to earn the win, including a key strikeout of Kyle Tucker to end the 6th. Fernando Rodney, Tanner Rainey, and Javy Guerra got the last 9 outs. Manager Dave Martinez said of Strasburg's confidence this postseason that ''One, he has the confidence to do it and two, he's become a premier pitcher, a big-game pitcher, he doesn't get rattled." Strasburg was greeted with a bear hug from his teammates. He said that ''They keep squeezing me a little harder every time, that's ok." The Nationals have now turned from underdogs to world series favorites in the eyes of many after beating the two best Houston pitchers.
Verlander pitched 6 innings for Houston, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 6 and took the loss. Verlander said of his performance that ''Obviously it's magnified in the World Series when you're not clicking on all cylinders." The Astros insist that the rough start hasn't hurt their confidence. Manager AJ Hinch said that ''We have a really good team, clearly, the Nats have outplayed us - bottom line. They came into our building and played two really good games. We're going to have to try to sleep off the latter third of this game.'' Carlos Correa went on to say that ''If there is a team out there that can do it, it's us.'' When Hinch was asked about what went wrong in the 7th, he said ''Where would you like me to start?''
The series now shifts to Washington for at least two games. The Astros look to rebound with Zack Greinke taking the hill for game 3. Anibal Sanchez will start for Washington as they look to push Houston to the brink.
Comments
Post a Comment