After an impressive win over Gerrit Cole and the Astros in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday, the Nationals went right back to work in Game 2 on Wednesday. They plated two quick runs off of Justin Verlander, staking Stephen Strasburg to a lead before he even took the mound.
Trea Turner led off with a four-pitch walk. Adam Eaton followed up by slapping a ground ball single to left field. Anthony Rendon brought both runners home with a double that clanked high off of the wall in front of the Crawford boxes in left field.
Verlander settled down from there, striking out Juan Soto, getting Howie Kendrick to fly out, and Asdrúbal Cabrera to strike out to end the inning. Now it’s Strasburg’s turn. In four postseason starts this month, he has a 1.64 ERA with 33 strikeouts and one walk across 22 innings.
Update: Alex Bregman answered on the Astros’ behalf in the bottom of the first, slugging a two-out, two-run home run to left field off of Strasburg. Tie game.
