When the World Series started between the Astros and the Nationals, it seemed like this could be a quick four or five game series in favor of the Astros. The Nationals have been the underdogs all season long and this series was no different as they would face the best team record wise in the MLB, the Astros.
It is pretty safe to say that this series has not gone the way that anyone expected to go so far, not in the sense of the series lead (Astros 3-Nationals 2) but the fact that all the wins in this series has been by the road team.
Since the World Series has been around and has determined the champion of the MLB in 1903, only two times prior to this year has the road teams won each of the first five games. In 1906 the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs faced off for the championship, back then each game alternated who was the home team and who was the away team. The White Sox won the first game on the road and finished the series off after winning the sixth game at home.
We then had to wait 90 years for this feat to happen again, in 1996 the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves faced off with the Braves winning the first two on the road and then the Yankees winning the next four games to win the series, the first three of which were on the road.
So far in the 2019 World Series this has been what has happened, the Nationals won the first two games on the road and then the Astros came back to win the next three games on the road, pushing their series lead to 3-2.
If this trend continues than the Nationals would make history, not only winning their first championship in franchise history but also becoming the first team to win all road games in road to the World Series championship (Commissioner’s Trophy). This series would also make history as being the only series to go past five games of the road team winning every game.
However, the Astros, being one of the best hitting teams in the league, will not make this easy for the Nationals as they have a potential Cy Young winner in Justin Verlander pitching in a potential series clinching matchup.
As good as Verlander is in the regular season, it seems like he becomes a different pitcher when he gets to the World Series, in his WS career Verlander is 0-5 with a 5.73 ERA, 36 strikeouts, and 11 walks.
This trend will need to stop if they want to close out the Nationals in game six. It also could be a little easier with how the Nationals have been hitting in the past three games.
In the past three games the Nationals are 1-21 with runners in scoring position (RISP) and have lost the three games with a combined score of 19-3. This came after the first two games where their bats could not be stopped, hitting 7-21 with RISP and winning the games with a combined score of 17-7.
It seems like the Nationals and Astros have flipped in their ability to drive runners in. In the first two games it felt like the Astros could never manage to get a hit when runners were on for them, in the first game they hit 3-12 with RISP and left 12 men on base. In the second game the Astros were 0-5 with RISP and left 9 runners on base.
In the last three games the Astros are 11-28 with RISP with 24 runners left on base. Even though they have had 24 runners left on base, they are still doing enough with runners in scoring position to capture the victories.
This is exactly the trend that the Astros will need to continue going into game six tomorrow. The Astros may have caught a break in game five when it was brought to their attention that Max Scherzer would not be able to pitch in the game, forcing the Nationals to go with Joe Ross. They will not catch that type of break in game six, they will face Stephen Strasburg who has been their best pitcher all postseason.
This postseason Strasburg is 4-0 with a 1.8 ERA in 30 innings with 40 strikeouts and 2 walks. Strasburg has been unreal this postseason and will need to continue to do this to slow down the Astros lineup.
The Astros lineup is a threat in every single position, 1-9 to drive in a run at any time. Now that they are hot and getting back into their groove, they will be almost impossible to beat therefore Strasburg will need to pitch the best game of his career to keep the Nationals in the series.
The Astros have a chance to close out this series on Tuesday October 29, but it will not be an easy task. Strasburg vs. Verlander has all the potential of being a great matchup in a potential series ending game.
The Nationals have a big chip on their shoulder right now but going off how this series has gone so far, they could make history as being the first team to only win road games and win the World Series, bringing their franchise their first World Series Title. They will have to fight through the tough Astros lineup who is looking to win their second championship in the past three seasons.
Game six will be on Tuesday October 29, 2019 at 8:07 PM ET on Fox. If needed, game seven will be on Wednesday October 30, 2019 at 8:08 PM ET on Fox to determine the World Series champions of this baseball season.