HOUSTON — Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki led off the seventh inning of a tied Game 2 of the World Series Wednesday night with an improbable clutch homer off a pitcher’s ace. Justin Verlander. Then came the bad news for the Astros.
In a series of walks, weak contact hits, a throwing error and, believe it or not, Houston manager AJ Hinch’s first intentional walk of the season, the Nationals broke open a close game by scoring six points in the game. seventh round and 10 in the last three frames for blow out the Astros, 12-3at Minute Maid Park and take a 2-0 lead in the Fall Classic.
The loss prompted Houston to hold a single players’ meeting after the game to refocus before Game 3 Friday at Washington. The Astros held a reunion after losing three straight in New York during the 2017 American League Championship Series and came back to win Games 6 and 7 in Houston en route to their first championship.
“We talked as a team, and obviously the great group of guys we have here is a family,” the shortstop said. Carlos Correa said. “We talked about keeping our heads up, moving forward, going out there and playing the way we can play. It was just us talking to ourselves. We are such a good team. A 2-0 (deficit) shouldn’t bother our heads. We have to stay focused for the next match.
The epic collapse at the end of Game 2 spoiled what had been a close and competitive battle between Verlander and Nats starter Stephen Strasburg, and left Hinch with a pile of rubble to sort through as the team heads to Washington to heal his wounds.
“Where would you like me to start?” » said Hinch. “The first circuit? That’s what happened.
“And soft contact for the rest of that inning that we didn’t make a few plays (on), and they made contact with big at-bats and the inning got out of hand.”
Suzuki’s 381-foot homer to left field on a Verlander fastball to start the seventh gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead, but it was still a winnable game at that point. Washington’s suspect bullpen was going to have to cover the final three innings, but the ensuing turmoil made that challenge meaningless.
Verlander was removed after walking Victor Robles and reliever Ryan Pressley came in and quickly walked Trea Turner. Adam Eaton put them in scoring position, and Pressly nearly escaped when he asked Anthony Rendon to fly out.
Hinch, who became the first manager in history not to allow an intentional walk in the regular season, elected to walk Nats outfielder Juan Soto to load the bases. The decision made sense, given that Soto had a difficult time and avoided a left-right clash with Pressly.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez wasn’t surprised by Hinch’s decision.
“No, he’s seeing the ball really well right now, swinging the bat really well,” Martinez said. “I had a feeling once first base was open, they would take him out. But again, it’s okay. We have Howie (Kendrick) behind him, who has been incredible.
With the bases now loaded, Kendrick hit a grounder at 83.5 mph right off the bat, but the third baseman Alex Bregman I couldn’t understand him as he moved to his left. Had he fielded it, he could have thrown out Soto at second base to end the inning, but instead a run was scored on what was ruled an infield hit.
“I went to my left and reached out to reach for it, and I kind of fell a little bit and couldn’t get it back,” Bregman said.
Hinch said the play changed the entire inning.
“Yeah, every time Alex gets there, I expect him to make the play, he expects to make it,” he said. “It was just a little out of his reach and he couldn’t catch it cleanly. And that kind of transformed the whole round.
Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a two-run single that was hit 75.7 mph off the bat, and Ryan Zimmerman hit a 62.8 mph dribbler down the third base line that Bregman fielded and threw away from the first goal. Suddenly it was 8-2 Nats with only one ball hit over 84 mph.
“Contact is your friend in these situations,” Hinch said. “They did a good job making contact against the press. I thought he made some really good pitches. But it’s clear that this round didn’t go that way, nor the next round, nor the round after that.
The intentional walk to Soto was the first delivered by a Houston pitcher since Héctor Rondon walked Jed Lowrie of the A’s on August 17, 2018. The Marlins led the Majors with 52 intentional walks issued this season, and every other team had at least 10.
The decision made sense, even if the results were chaotic and crowded in the seventh.
“I watched Soto just like you,” Hinch said. “We see the downsides. Clearly, I think there are a lot of negatives given that I haven’t done it all year. But, ironically, I thought this was our best chance to limit their scoring, and instead it threw gasoline on a fire that was already burning.
