Strasburg, Nats top Astros 7-2, force World Series Game 7

HOUSTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg took a gem into the ninth inning and Juan Soto ran all the way to first base with his bat following a go-ahead home run, the same way Houston slugger Alex Bregman did earlier.

Yep, these Washington Nationals have matched the Astros pitch for pitch, hit for hit, win for win — even home run celebration for home run celebration.

Adam Eaton and Soto hit solo homers off Justin Verlander in the fifth, Anthony Rendon also went deep and drove in five runs, and the Nationals beat the Astros 7-2 Tuesday night to tie the World Series at 3-3.

Now, it's onto a winner-take-all Game 7 to decide the first Fall Classic in which the visiting team won the first six.

"It's weird, really. You can't explain it," Washington manager Dave Martinez said.

Fired up after a disputed call at first base went against them in the seventh, the Nationals padded their lead moments later when Rendon homered off Will Harris. Martinez, still enraged at umpires, was ejected during the seventh-inning stretch, screaming as a pair of his coaches held him back while the crowd sang along to "Deep in the Heart of Texas."

Rendon added a two-run double off Chris Devenski in the ninth to just about seal it after Strasburg gutted through without his best fastball to throw five-hit ball for 8 1/3 innings.

Washington pitching coach Paul Menhart told Strasburg after the first inning that he was tipping pitches. Strasburg allowed only three more hits.

"Started shaking my glove, so they didn't know what I was throwing," he said. "It's something that has burned me in the past, and it burned me there in the first."

Nationals ace Max Scherzer, boosted by an injection of painkiller, is primed to return from an irritated nerve in his neck to start Game 7. Scherzer was warming up in the...

source https://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Strasburg-Nats-top-Astros-7-2-force-World-14573131.php