ARE YOU KIDDING ME? — NATS COME FROM BEHIND TO BEAT ASTROS 6-2 & WIN FIRST WORLD SERIES AS HOWIE KENDRICK STRIKES BIG BLOW AGAIN!

Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? — NATS COME FROM BEHIND TO BEAT ASTROS 6-2 & WIN FIRST WORLD SERIES AS HOWIE KENDRICK STRIKES BIG BLOW AGAIN!

 

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Exclusive for Immigrationcourtside.com

 

Oct. 30, 2010. For more than seven innings, Astros starter Zack Greinke had baffled the Washington Nationals, shutting them out on one hit while nursing a 2-0 lead. He outdueled Nats starter Max Scherzer, who despite giving up seven hits and two runs in five innings kept his team in the game.

 

With one out in the top of the seventh, Nats third baseman Anthony Rendon hit a home run to cut the margin in half. Following a walk to young superstar Juan Soto, Astros manager A.J. Hinch pulled Greinke and went to reliever Will Harris to face the Nats designated hitter Howie Kendrick.

 

Kendrick was the hero of Divisional Series win over the L.A. Dodgers and the MVP of the League Championship Series win over the St. Louis Cardinals. But, his World Series had been less than stellar. As he came to the plate, he was sporting an average of just over .200. It didn’t matter. The 36-year-old part-time starter, who was the Nats leading hitter for average during the regular season, drove a Harris pitch down the right field line where it hit the screen just inside the foul pole for a two-run homer that put the Nats ahead to stay 3-2.

 

With help from Adam Eaton and Juan Soto, the Nats added three big insurance runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Patrick Corbin, normally a starter, but also pitching out of the bullpen in the postseason, threw three scoreless innings in relief for the win. Daniel Hudson closed it out with a thee-up, three-down ninth inning. Then pandemonium broke loose.

 

So, the Nats completed an amazing resurrection from a 19-31 start to World Series Champs, beating the heavily favored Astros. Lots of credit to Manager Davey Martinez for righting the ship after many were screaming for his head back in May.

 

Among the interesting facts generated by this Series: Nats became first team in postseason history to win five “elimination games” (they trailed in each one); Nats are the first team to win four Series games on the road; this is the only major sports championship in which the visiting team won every game.

 

Nats pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who was 2-0 in the World Series and 5-0 in postseason was named the MVP.

 

Congrats again to the Nats and their organization, particularly the Lerner family which owns the team and brought baseball back to Washington. They join the Caps and the Mystics in bringing recent championships to D.C., and showing that good things can come out of Washington.

 

 

 

 

WORLD SERIES:  RENDON DRIVES IN FIVE, EATON, SOTO HOMER, & STRASBURG SHUTS DOWN ‘STROS AS NATS WIN 7-2 IN HOUSTON TO FORCE GAME 7 TONIGHT!

WORLD SERIES:  RENDON DRIVES IN FIVE, EATON, SOTO HOMER, & STRASBURG SHUTS DOWN ‘STROS AS NATS WIN 7-2 IN HOUSTON TO FORCE GAME 7 TONIGHT!

Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals

Game seven from Houston tonight at 8 pm on Fox. This is the first time in major sports playoff history that the visitors (in this case, the Nats) have won six games. By going 5-0 in the postseason, Nats’ ace Stephen Strasburg ties a major league record!

Tonight, Max Scherzer (hopefully) goes for the Nats after missing game five in DC with severe back spasms. The Nats’ Davey Martinez became the first manager ejected from the Series since 2015 for arguing a questionable interference call on Trea Turner at first base that looked like it had killed a Nats’ rally in the seventh inning. However, two batters later, Anthony Rendon saved the day by blasting a majestic two-out, two-run homer to give the Nats some breathing room. Nats’ 21-year-old superstar Juan Soto continued to impress with a “moon shot” home run to give the Nats a 3-2 lead they would not surrender, thanks to Strasburg and Rendon.

Go Nats! Bring the World Series Championship home to DC!   

PWS

10-30-19