Washington finished in second place in the National League East, compiling a 93/69 record. It was good enough to clinch the Nationals a Wild Card Spot..Washington beat Milwaukee in the Wild Card Game. The roll continuted as the Nationals topped Los Angeles in five games in the NLDS. In the NLCS, the Nationals swept the Cardinals, clinching their first pennant in franchise history (including their time as the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 2004) as well as the first World Series appearance for a Washington, D.C., team since 1933.
As for the Astros, they won the American League West and finished the 2019 regular season with the best record in baseball, at 107-55. Houston defeated the Rays in five games in the ALDS to start the playoffs, and followed that up with a six game series win over the Yankees in the ALCS. This is Houston's third World Series appearance and second in three years.
Here's the dates and times for every game in this series (all games to be broadcast on Fox):
Game 1 (Tuesday, Oct. 22): Washington Nationals at Houston Astros, 8:08 p.m.
Game 2 (Wednesday, Oct. 23): Washington Nationals at Houston Astros, 8:07 p.m.
Game 3 (Friday, Oct. 25): Houston Astros at Washington Nationals, 8:07 p.m.
Game 4 (Saturday, Oct. 26): Houston Astros at Washington Nationals, 8:07 p.m
Game 5 (Sunday, Oct. 27): Houston Astros at Washington Nationals, 8:07 p.m
Game 6 (Tuesday, Oct. 29): Washington Nationals at Houston Astros, 8:07 p.m
Game 7 (Wednesday, Oct. 30): Washington Nationals at Houston Astros, 8:08 p.m
Looks like it could be an interesting series, to say the least. Both teams are coming in hot, Washington more so than Houston, nothing against the Astros. Consider this. Washington had fallen to 19-34 following a loss to the Mets on may 23rd. From then on, they paced the Dodgers for the best record in the National League, finishing the season 74-38 and scored 624 runs, second most in the league. It was amazing what the Nationals were able to do from Memorial day weekend on. Oh and they were the only team in the playoffs, at least of the final four standing, to hit over .300 in the league championship, with runners in scoring position. Washington hit .324, while the Cardinals hit .11, New York hit .148 and the team they're now playing, the Astros, hit .121.
Leading the Washington charge is Anthony Rendon, who's driven in seven runs while hitting .375 over the course of the playoffs. Howie Kendrick and Trea Turner have joined Rendon in being the only Nationals hitters with double digit hits in the playoffs combined. And while Washington has been knocking the cover off the ball, one of the biggest concerns going into the fall was the pitching staff. Starting wasn't the issue, it was finishing. How well would the bullpen hold up, since it had been a problem for most of the year. Hunter Strickland and Wander Suero have double digits ERA's and haven't pitched more than two games in the playoffs. Everybody else has pretty much been lights out. They only gave up six runs to the Cards in the League Championship series. And the Nats three best pitchers have had double digit strikeouts the last three wins in the playoffs. Max Scherzer had 11, while Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin had 12 each. They're going to need those three guys to be on their best in this series to stand a chance.
They're going up against the best team in baseball in the Astros. Jose Altuve has been hitting .349 all playoffs and him and Michael Brantley are the only Astos hitters with double digits in hits in the playoffs. Alex Bregman has been a key contributor by drawing ten walks in the playoffs. Houston had six regulars in their lineup hit over .200 in the playoffs. Only thing that's alarming is, as noted before, that they're a low hitting team with runners in scoring position.
One area where Houston has advantage is pitching. Outside of Justin Verlander being average, the Houston staff has been lights out. Garrett Cole has an ERA under 1 in the playoffs. He has been pitching at an almost unheard of level. As good as Cole has been, Zack Greinke has been inconsistent in the postseason, but he was able to limit the Yankees to one run over 4.1 innings in Game 4 of the ALCS.
Looking at both sides of the coin, there's no doubt about it that the Nationals are coming in hot, which is why this series is a little harder to predict than at first glance. Washington has been playing great baseball as of late, but the Astros are still the best team in baaseball and have been clutch most of the year, keeping that going in October. Its going to be a tough series, but the Title will stay in the American League for the third year in a row.
Prediction: Astros in 6!
No comments:
Post a Comment