Nationals stun Astros to capture 1st title
October 30, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) Howie Kendrick sure has a knack for the dramatic.
At 36 - nine years removed from is only All-Star appearance - he hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Will Harris in the seventh inning that lifted the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 7 for his team's first World Series title.
Steady-handed and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments of the Nationals' October run.
His grand slam against Joe Kelly broke a 10th-inning tie in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series, giving the Nationals a 7-3 win - just the second extra-inning slam in postseason history.
He hit .333 with four doubles and four RBIs in a League Championship Series sweep of St. Louis, earning MVP.
Kendrick was just 5 for 22 with one RBI in the World Series when he came to the plate in the seventh inning of Game 7. Anthony Rendon had just homered off Zack Greinke, cutting the Nationals' deficit to 2-1.
Juan Soto walked on five pitches and Harris relieved. Kendrick swung past a curveball and drove a cutter on the low, outside corner down the right-field line. George Springer sprinted toward the corner. Harris watched. The crowd was silenced, hoping the ball would be caught or curve foul.
Instead, it bounced off the foul pole screen.
Kendrick shouted his way around the bases after the biggest hit of his 14-year career. He danced in the dugout with his younger teammates, and for one last time this season, Kendrick and Adam Eaton celebrated by shifting gears and slamming the gas pedal in their imaginary car. Forget about over the hill - Kendrick showed he still had plenty in the tank.
He became the second player to hit a home run in a winner-take-all Series game from the seventh inning on that took his team from a deficit into the lead, following an eighth-inning drive by Pittsburgh's Hal Smith in Game 7 of the 1960 Series against the New York Yankees.
He's also the only player 36 or older to hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game. Of course, he's done it twice, both this year.
Kendrick singled in the eighth, reaching for the third time.
His first full season with Washington ended early in 2018, when he tore his right Achilles tendon while retreating to catch a fly ball to left field against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 19. Even then, he didn't get too down.
''There's no point in being mopey about it,'' he said. ''It won't heal as fast. So the happier I am, the faster I'll heal.''
He returned this year to hit .344 with 17 homers and 62 RBIs in 121 games, missing time in August with a strained left hamstring.
Little did he know his signature moments were ahead. Two of them.
October 30, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) Howie Kendrick sure has a knack for the dramatic.
At 36 - nine years removed from is only All-Star appearance - he hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Will Harris in the seventh inning that lifted the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 7 for his team's first World Series title.
Steady-handed and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments of the Nationals' October run.
His grand slam against Joe Kelly broke a 10th-inning tie in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series, giving the Nationals a 7-3 win - just the second extra-inning slam in postseason history.
He hit .333 with four doubles and four RBIs in a League Championship Series sweep of St. Louis, earning MVP.
Kendrick was just 5 for 22 with one RBI in the World Series when he came to the plate in the seventh inning of Game 7. Anthony Rendon had just homered off Zack Greinke, cutting the Nationals' deficit to 2-1.
Juan Soto walked on five pitches and Harris relieved. Kendrick swung past a curveball and drove a cutter on the low, outside corner down the right-field line. George Springer sprinted toward the corner. Harris watched. The crowd was silenced, hoping the ball would be caught or curve foul.
Instead, it bounced off the foul pole screen.
Kendrick shouted his way around the bases after the biggest hit of his 14-year career. He danced in the dugout with his younger teammates, and for one last time this season, Kendrick and Adam Eaton celebrated by shifting gears and slamming the gas pedal in their imaginary car. Forget about over the hill - Kendrick showed he still had plenty in the tank.
He became the second player to hit a home run in a winner-take-all Series game from the seventh inning on that took his team from a deficit into the lead, following an eighth-inning drive by Pittsburgh's Hal Smith in Game 7 of the 1960 Series against the New York Yankees.
He's also the only player 36 or older to hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game. Of course, he's done it twice, both this year.
Kendrick singled in the eighth, reaching for the third time.
His first full season with Washington ended early in 2018, when he tore his right Achilles tendon while retreating to catch a fly ball to left field against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 19. Even then, he didn't get too down.
''There's no point in being mopey about it,'' he said. ''It won't heal as fast. So the happier I am, the faster I'll heal.''
He returned this year to hit .344 with 17 homers and 62 RBIs in 121 games, missing time in August with a strained left hamstring.
Little did he know his signature moments were ahead. Two of them.
Stephen Strasburg goes from shutdown to World Series MVP
October 31, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) The shutdown that shook baseball paid off for Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals.
It just took seven seasons.
Strasburg was voted MVP of the World Series following the Nationals' 6-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 7 on Wednesday night, the first title in the 51 seasons of the Washington/Montreal Expos franchise.
Ending the most prolific of 10 big league seasons for the 31-year-old right-hander, Strasburg went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in five postseason starts and one relief appearance, including victories in Games 2 of 6 of the Series.
Seven years after Strasburg was shut down because of an innings limit following Tommy John surgery, he helped lead the Nationals to the championship.
''I slept like a baby when we made the decision,'' Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday. ''I knew more information than the people criticizing. I've got a pretty thick skin being in the game this long.''
Selected by Washington with the first pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Strasburg made his first Nationals start a year later and grabbed attention with 14 strikeouts, the most in a big league debut since Houston's J.R. Richard in 1971. But after Strasburg's 12th start came the shocking news, three of the most dreaded words in baseball: Tommy John surgery.
Strasburg returned for five abbreviated starts in September 2011 and was 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 159 1/3 innings when the Nationals cut short his 2012 season on Sept. 8, citing the need to protect his arm. Washington finished with a big league-best 98 wins but without its ace lost to St. Louis in a five-game Division Series.
''What if'' became the team motto, at least for Nationals fans.
Not for Strasburg.
''Try not to look in the past. Try not to look in the future. Really just try and be in the moment,'' he said this October. ''Once you start thinking about how things could have been or what things might happen, it takes your focus away from what your job is.''
Strasburg's October is unmatched, the first pitcher to go 5-0 in a single postseason - Arizona's Randy Johnson was 5-2 in 2001 and Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez 5-1 the following year. Stras, as teammates call him, struck out 47 and walked four in 36 1/3 innings. He won Games 2 and 6 against Houston in the World Series, giving up four runs over 14 1/3 innings in an analytic era of quick hooks.
Intense and quiet, Stras and Mad Max are the yin and yang of the Nationals' championship rotation.
''Max is a little bit more outgoing - rambunctious maybe is the word. And Stras is a little more subtle in his behavior,'' manager Dave Martinez said before Game 7. ''In case you didn't notice yesterday when the game was over, there was a group hug for Stras. They all got together and gave him a big hug. ... When Max does it and pitches, he wants all those hugs.''
Having finished the third season of a contract guaranteeing $175 million over seven years - and earning an extra $250,000 for the World Series MVP honor - Strasburg can opt out of his deal, give up $100 million and become a free agent. He is coming off his most durable season, going 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA and 251 strikeouts in an NL-high 209 innings, boosting his record to 112-58 in 10 seasons.
In 2015, the New York Mets let Matt Harvey pitch 216 innings in his return from Tommy John surgery, and they reached the World Series before losing to Kansas City in five games. He hasn't had a winning season since and his career is uncertain going into 2020.
Strasburg was protected and endures.
''Sometimes the hardest decisions aren't the most popular decisions,'' Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. ''I think the most important thing is the organization really did have the best interests in mind for the player. And I think sometimes that gets lost in the equation. So I respect the heck out of them for doing that for Stephen.''
October 31, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) The shutdown that shook baseball paid off for Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals.
It just took seven seasons.
Strasburg was voted MVP of the World Series following the Nationals' 6-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 7 on Wednesday night, the first title in the 51 seasons of the Washington/Montreal Expos franchise.
Ending the most prolific of 10 big league seasons for the 31-year-old right-hander, Strasburg went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in five postseason starts and one relief appearance, including victories in Games 2 of 6 of the Series.
Seven years after Strasburg was shut down because of an innings limit following Tommy John surgery, he helped lead the Nationals to the championship.
''I slept like a baby when we made the decision,'' Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday. ''I knew more information than the people criticizing. I've got a pretty thick skin being in the game this long.''
Selected by Washington with the first pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Strasburg made his first Nationals start a year later and grabbed attention with 14 strikeouts, the most in a big league debut since Houston's J.R. Richard in 1971. But after Strasburg's 12th start came the shocking news, three of the most dreaded words in baseball: Tommy John surgery.
Strasburg returned for five abbreviated starts in September 2011 and was 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 159 1/3 innings when the Nationals cut short his 2012 season on Sept. 8, citing the need to protect his arm. Washington finished with a big league-best 98 wins but without its ace lost to St. Louis in a five-game Division Series.
''What if'' became the team motto, at least for Nationals fans.
Not for Strasburg.
''Try not to look in the past. Try not to look in the future. Really just try and be in the moment,'' he said this October. ''Once you start thinking about how things could have been or what things might happen, it takes your focus away from what your job is.''
Strasburg's October is unmatched, the first pitcher to go 5-0 in a single postseason - Arizona's Randy Johnson was 5-2 in 2001 and Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez 5-1 the following year. Stras, as teammates call him, struck out 47 and walked four in 36 1/3 innings. He won Games 2 and 6 against Houston in the World Series, giving up four runs over 14 1/3 innings in an analytic era of quick hooks.
Intense and quiet, Stras and Mad Max are the yin and yang of the Nationals' championship rotation.
''Max is a little bit more outgoing - rambunctious maybe is the word. And Stras is a little more subtle in his behavior,'' manager Dave Martinez said before Game 7. ''In case you didn't notice yesterday when the game was over, there was a group hug for Stras. They all got together and gave him a big hug. ... When Max does it and pitches, he wants all those hugs.''
Having finished the third season of a contract guaranteeing $175 million over seven years - and earning an extra $250,000 for the World Series MVP honor - Strasburg can opt out of his deal, give up $100 million and become a free agent. He is coming off his most durable season, going 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA and 251 strikeouts in an NL-high 209 innings, boosting his record to 112-58 in 10 seasons.
In 2015, the New York Mets let Matt Harvey pitch 216 innings in his return from Tommy John surgery, and they reached the World Series before losing to Kansas City in five games. He hasn't had a winning season since and his career is uncertain going into 2020.
Strasburg was protected and endures.
''Sometimes the hardest decisions aren't the most popular decisions,'' Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. ''I think the most important thing is the organization really did have the best interests in mind for the player. And I think sometimes that gets lost in the equation. So I respect the heck out of them for doing that for Stephen.''
Rendon made sure when Nats were down, they were never out
October 31, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) When the Washington Nationals were down, Anthony Rendon made sure they were never out. Just like Mr. Clutch has all October.
Houston's Zack Greinke was cruising with a one-hit shutout and a 2-0 lead in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night.
It would be glib to say that's exactly where Rendon and the Nats wanted to be, but the way the Nationals' season turned out, why not?
''We had nothing else to lose,'' Rendon said.
Rendon stroked a changeup into the left-field Crawford Boxes for a solo home run with one out in the seventh inning, and Washington started its fifth, final and most famous comeback in an elimination game this year, a 6-2 victory for its first title in the franchise's 51 seasons.
''He had kept us all balance for the first six innings,'' Rendon said. ''Just happened to get a ball over the plate in the air.''
Rendon, a free-agent-to-be playing perhaps his final games for Washington, hit .276 (8 for 29) in the Series with two homers and eight RBIs.
He hit when it mattered most: Rendon had three homers, three doubles and a walk from the sixth inning on in the Nationals' five elimination games.
Washington trailed Milwaukee 3-1 in the eighth inning of the wild card game when he walked and scored the go-ahead run as Juan Soto singled.
With the Nats trailing 3-0 in Game 5 of the Division Series, he doubled against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Walker Buehler leading off the sixth inning, homered off Clayton Kershaw leading off the eighth, then doubled again and scored on Howie Kendrick's 10th-inning grand slam.
Rendon's two-run homer off Will Harris extended the Nationals' lead to 5-2 in the seventh inning of Game 6, and Rendon added a two-run double in the ninth off Chris Devenski, capping a five-RBI night.
His home run against Greinke made Rendon the first player to homer in three straight games when his team was facing elimination, according to STATS.
October 31, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) When the Washington Nationals were down, Anthony Rendon made sure they were never out. Just like Mr. Clutch has all October.
Houston's Zack Greinke was cruising with a one-hit shutout and a 2-0 lead in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night.
It would be glib to say that's exactly where Rendon and the Nats wanted to be, but the way the Nationals' season turned out, why not?
''We had nothing else to lose,'' Rendon said.
Rendon stroked a changeup into the left-field Crawford Boxes for a solo home run with one out in the seventh inning, and Washington started its fifth, final and most famous comeback in an elimination game this year, a 6-2 victory for its first title in the franchise's 51 seasons.
''He had kept us all balance for the first six innings,'' Rendon said. ''Just happened to get a ball over the plate in the air.''
Rendon, a free-agent-to-be playing perhaps his final games for Washington, hit .276 (8 for 29) in the Series with two homers and eight RBIs.
He hit when it mattered most: Rendon had three homers, three doubles and a walk from the sixth inning on in the Nationals' five elimination games.
Washington trailed Milwaukee 3-1 in the eighth inning of the wild card game when he walked and scored the go-ahead run as Juan Soto singled.
With the Nats trailing 3-0 in Game 5 of the Division Series, he doubled against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Walker Buehler leading off the sixth inning, homered off Clayton Kershaw leading off the eighth, then doubled again and scored on Howie Kendrick's 10th-inning grand slam.
Rendon's two-run homer off Will Harris extended the Nationals' lead to 5-2 in the seventh inning of Game 6, and Rendon added a two-run double in the ninth off Chris Devenski, capping a five-RBI night.
His home run against Greinke made Rendon the first player to homer in three straight games when his team was facing elimination, according to STATS.
Hinch: "I'll have to live with" bullpen decision in Game 7
October 31, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) Astros manager AJ Hinch had options.
There was Zack Greinke, a veteran ace showing his first signs of fatigue. Out in the bullpen, Gerrit Cole was watching. And of course, Will Harris was warming.
What came next, Hinch will contemplate for years.
''It's a decision I'll have to live with,'' he said.
After Greinke allowed a homer to Anthony Rendon and walked Juan Soto, Hinch handed a 2-1 lead to Harris in the seventh inning of World Series Game 7. In Harris' first at-bat, Howie Kendrick drove a two-run, go-ahead homer off the right field foul pole screen - a haymaker that stunned Houston in a 6-2 defeat that cost them the chance at a second title in two years.
It was the second straight night Harris surrendered a home run after Rendon took him deep for two runs in Houston's 7-2 loss in Game 6. Harris hadn't allowed a run this postseason before that shot.
Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner who joined the Astros from Arizona at the trade deadline, had looked strong all night. He threw only 80 pitches, was just starting his third turn through the order, and Rendon's homer was just his second hit allowed. He played superb defense, too.
And yet, out came Hinch.
''We asked him to do more today than he had done, and pitched deeper into the game more than he had done in the entire month of October,'' Hinch said. ''I wanted to take him out a bat or two early rather than a bat or two late.''
That was only half the decision that went so wrong.
Hinch could have turned to Cole, a Cy Young Award contender who won Game 5 on Sunday. Ready to go on short rest, he was warming up earlier in the game but had cooled off by the seventh. He only left the bullpen after the final out.
''I wasn't going to pitch him unless we were going to win the World Series and have a lead,'' Hinch said. ''He was going to help us win. He was available, and I felt it was a game that he was going to come in had we tied it or taken the lead.''
Harris was Hinch's man for that seventh-inning spot. It's not hard to see why. The right-hander had been steady in the late innings all season, posting a 1.50 ERA in the regular season. And Hinch liked the matchups with Harris facing Kendrick and Asdrubal Cabrera - right-handed hitters who figured to struggle with the right-handed Harris and his sharp breaking ball.
He just faltered at the worst possible time.
''I hate that for him and for us that his last feeling this season is about as low as you can feel coming out of Game 7 of the World Series,'' Hinch said. ''He's answered the bell so many times, he's gotten us out of so many jams. He's been a go-to guy. He's a stand-up guy.''
Cole started throwing in the bullpen again in the eighth, but by the ninth he was sitting down again, wearing a jacket and staring emotionless toward the field. He was simply a spectator to the last moments of an illustrious 326-strikeout season that could well earn him his first Cy Young - but that didn't get him a ring.
October 31, 2019
By The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) Astros manager AJ Hinch had options.
There was Zack Greinke, a veteran ace showing his first signs of fatigue. Out in the bullpen, Gerrit Cole was watching. And of course, Will Harris was warming.
What came next, Hinch will contemplate for years.
''It's a decision I'll have to live with,'' he said.
After Greinke allowed a homer to Anthony Rendon and walked Juan Soto, Hinch handed a 2-1 lead to Harris in the seventh inning of World Series Game 7. In Harris' first at-bat, Howie Kendrick drove a two-run, go-ahead homer off the right field foul pole screen - a haymaker that stunned Houston in a 6-2 defeat that cost them the chance at a second title in two years.
It was the second straight night Harris surrendered a home run after Rendon took him deep for two runs in Houston's 7-2 loss in Game 6. Harris hadn't allowed a run this postseason before that shot.
Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner who joined the Astros from Arizona at the trade deadline, had looked strong all night. He threw only 80 pitches, was just starting his third turn through the order, and Rendon's homer was just his second hit allowed. He played superb defense, too.
And yet, out came Hinch.
''We asked him to do more today than he had done, and pitched deeper into the game more than he had done in the entire month of October,'' Hinch said. ''I wanted to take him out a bat or two early rather than a bat or two late.''
That was only half the decision that went so wrong.
Hinch could have turned to Cole, a Cy Young Award contender who won Game 5 on Sunday. Ready to go on short rest, he was warming up earlier in the game but had cooled off by the seventh. He only left the bullpen after the final out.
''I wasn't going to pitch him unless we were going to win the World Series and have a lead,'' Hinch said. ''He was going to help us win. He was available, and I felt it was a game that he was going to come in had we tied it or taken the lead.''
Harris was Hinch's man for that seventh-inning spot. It's not hard to see why. The right-hander had been steady in the late innings all season, posting a 1.50 ERA in the regular season. And Hinch liked the matchups with Harris facing Kendrick and Asdrubal Cabrera - right-handed hitters who figured to struggle with the right-handed Harris and his sharp breaking ball.
He just faltered at the worst possible time.
''I hate that for him and for us that his last feeling this season is about as low as you can feel coming out of Game 7 of the World Series,'' Hinch said. ''He's answered the bell so many times, he's gotten us out of so many jams. He's been a go-to guy. He's a stand-up guy.''
Cole started throwing in the bullpen again in the eighth, but by the ninth he was sitting down again, wearing a jacket and staring emotionless toward the field. He was simply a spectator to the last moments of an illustrious 326-strikeout season that could well earn him his first Cy Young - but that didn't get him a ring.
2019 world series best bets and opinions:
Date w-l-t % units record
10/30/2019...........2-0-0.........100.00%.........+10.75
10/29/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%..........+2.75
10/27/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%..........+0.00
10/26/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%...........-0.60
10/25/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%...........+0.00
10/23/2019...........2-0-0..........100.00%..........+12.75
10/22/2019.......... 2-0-0..........100.00%..........+13.50
totals..................10-4-0.......... 71.42%.......... +39.15
best bets
date..........................ats...............un its..............o/u...............units..............totals
10/30/2019................1 - 0.............+5.75...............1 - 0.............+5.00..............+10.75
10/29/2019................1 - 0.............+8.25...............0 - 1..............-5.50...............+2.75
10/27/2019................0 - 1..............-5.00...............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+0.00
10/26/2019................0 - 0..............+0.00..............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+5.00
10/25/2019................0 - 1..............-5.00...............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+0.00
10/23/2019................1 - 0..............+7.75..............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+12.75
10/22/2019................1 - 0..............+8.50..............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+13.50
totals........................4 - 2..............+20.25.............6 - 1.............+24.50.............+44.75
Date w-l-t % units record
10/30/2019...........2-0-0.........100.00%.........+10.75
10/29/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%..........+2.75
10/27/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%..........+0.00
10/26/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%...........-0.60
10/25/2019...........1-1-0...........50.00%...........+0.00
10/23/2019...........2-0-0..........100.00%..........+12.75
10/22/2019.......... 2-0-0..........100.00%..........+13.50
totals..................10-4-0.......... 71.42%.......... +39.15
best bets
date..........................ats...............un its..............o/u...............units..............totals
10/30/2019................1 - 0.............+5.75...............1 - 0.............+5.00..............+10.75
10/29/2019................1 - 0.............+8.25...............0 - 1..............-5.50...............+2.75
10/27/2019................0 - 1..............-5.00...............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+0.00
10/26/2019................0 - 0..............+0.00..............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+5.00
10/25/2019................0 - 1..............-5.00...............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+0.00
10/23/2019................1 - 0..............+7.75..............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+12.75
10/22/2019................1 - 0..............+8.50..............1 - 0..............+5.00..............+13.50
totals........................4 - 2..............+20.25.............6 - 1.............+24.50.............+44.75
