By Robert Streit
The Washington Nationals won their first World Series title in franchise history with a 6-2 comeback win in Game 7 on the road against the Houston Astros. In a season where they struggled early on to win games no one outside of the team expected them to make a run like this and win Major League Baseball’s ultimate prize. The team started off the 2019 season losing 31 of their first 50 games causing rumors to surface about their manager Davey Martinez being fired and several players traded. A meeting then occurred in the coaches’ conference room at Nationals Park, which changed everything. Team members spoke up and reiterated that although things had gotten off to a rocky start, there still was enough talent on a veteran roster to win and turn things around.
Now, almost five months since then the Nationals made the MLB playoffs as a Wild Card team, where they beat the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St Louis Cardinals to get to the World Series. In the World Series, they just beat a Houston Astros’ team which won a record 107 games and finished with the best record in baseball that earned them home-field advantage throughout the postseason. That would prove to mean nothing as Washington won all four of their road games in Houston’s Minute Maid Park to win the World Series and become the first team ever to do so without winning a single home game. The Nationals won Games 1 and 2 on the road then lost Games 3, 4 and 5 at home only to then win Games 6 and 7 again on the road to capture their first title.
During their run, the team relied on several different players to help carry them. First was pitcher Stephen Strasberg who was brilliant throughout the entire postseason and won two World Series games that earned him MVP. Next was fellow pitcher Max Scherzer, who was a workhorse for the team all season, and despite not being able to lift his arm because of back and neck spasms before Game 5 of the World Series, was still able to somehow pitch in the deciding game and turn in a gutsy performance.
In addition to these pitchers, timely hitting and defensive plays were made by players such as third baseman Anthony Rendon, outfielder Juan Soto, and utility man Howie Kendrick throughout the season and playoffs. Anthony Rendon, a Houston native helped rally the team in the 7th inning of Game 7 with a solo homerun off Astros ace pitcher Zack Grienke who up until that point had looked unhittable. Juan Soto became the first rookie and youngest player ever to hit three homeruns in a World Series. Finally, Howie Kendrick hit a grand slam in the NLDS against the Dodgers that sent them to the NLCS and also hit the go-ahead two-run homer off Astros reliever Will Harris in Game 7 of the World Series that erased a 2-1 deficit to put the Nationals up 3-2 and on top for good.
