Washington Nationals

WASHINGTON — His cellphone buzzed at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Longtime Washington Nationals trainer Paul Lessard was planning to go for a quick run before showering, packing and heading to work. But the caller ID read "Max Scherzer," and so Lessard answered.

Immediately, he dropped all of his plans and hustled to Nationals Park. It was going to be a long day.

The right side of Scherzer's neck and upper back, the trapezius, had started to spasm a couple of days earlier. It was enough that the Nationals ace spent most of Saturday getting treatment, and there came a point where he and the training staff were optimistic that he had turned the corner and he would be able to make his Game 5 start.

When he woke up Sunday, overnight, Scherzer's condition had worsened.

"I couldn't get out of bed," he said. "Like, it really hurt to get out of bed. I had to just basically fall out of bed and pick myself up with my left arm, and I was moving around … I just couldn't even move my arm. I just knew at that point I was in a really bad spot."

Some 12 hours later, so too were the Nationals, 7-1 losers to Houston, their third straight defeat, and now one game away from elimination in this 2019 World Series.

Now, Stephen Strasburg prepares to start Game 6 and save their season Tuesday in Houston.

And a series in which down is up and black is white is taking another dramatic and unexpected turn: Until now, who would have ever guessed that on the game's grandest stage, it would be Scherzer who would be unable to go and Strasburg stepping into the phone booth to ditch his Clark Kent and tug on the Superman cape?

DC Comics, indeed.

Publicly, the Nationals are maintaining that if Strasburg can get them to Game 7, they hope they will be able to hand the ball to Scherzer. He took a cortisone shot Sunday, and doctors told him to be patient, that it will be 48 hours or so until it takes effect.

Watching him Sunday, though, it seemed like a leap of faith to expect to see Mad Max anytime before next spring in West Palm Beach, Florida.

As he sat at a microphone and took questions about his injury, he made sure to turn his entire upper body in whichever direction he was attempting to speak. He looked incredibly, incredibly stiff. He looked mournful. He looked angry.

"He's in ungodly pain," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said.

Scherzer's wife, Erica, had to help dress him. He said he literally could not raise his arm.

The doctors, he said, informed him that "as long as I have no numbness coming down my arms or anything, you don't actually deal with any serious, long-term damage here. It's just the sensory that's pinching up the nerve in the neck and the trap, the whole muscles that surround your neck are just completely locked up in spasm.

"So for me it became impossible just to do any menial task whatsoever today."

Lessard and his staff tried to perform a hardball miracle, but no matter how badly everyone wanted it—starting with the famously, intensely volcanic Scherzer—it became pretty clear it wasn't going to happen.

"He's ready to bite somebody," Lessard said.

This is a guy who, in June, not only pitched against but dominated the Philadelphia Phillies one day after a bunt went awry and served him up a broken nose, two black eyes and pretty much blocked up his breathing.

"This is just a little thing that turned into a big thing that turned into a giant thing," Scherzer said of his current woes.

A starting pitcher being scratched on the day of a World Series start is not unprecedented, but it is extremely rare. The last time anything of this significance happened was way back in Game 1 of the Atlanta-New York Yankees World Series in 1999, when the Braves were forced to scratch future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine because of a severe case of the flu.

Joe Ross filled the role of Not Max Scherzer on Sunday night, and the emergency starter was loved up by a home crowd clearly knowing that, with an ace on the shelf, everyone needed to rally. But gutsy as he was over the first five innings, well, he was Not Max Scherzer, and the home team still hasn't won a World Series game in D.C. since 1933.

There was some chirping about plate umpire Lance Barksdale's work on balls and strikes, especially on a pitch that should have been ball four to Victor Robles but instead was ruled strike three, and a key pitch to Carlos Correa that didn't go Ross' way. But bottom line, it was a blowout 7-1 game. Furthermore, the Nationals scored only three runs total in 27 innings during their three home games. A couple of questionable calls is not what's dooming them.

The Nationals never led once in Games 3-4-5, and they trailed for 25 of the 27 innings.

They went 1-for-21 with runners in scoring position over the three games, and that one hit didn't even knock a run in. It just moved a National from second to third.

"It stinks," reliever Sean Doolittle said of dropping all three home games. "It stinks. We feel bad about it, man. [The fans] came out, they showed up, they were absolutely incredible. They waited 86 years [since 1933] … shoot, man, it's frustrating. It really is.

"Hopefully, we'll take care of business in Houston and come back and party with them."

Well, say this: The way this World Series is going, Scherzer's condition notwithstanding, anything is possible.

Nobody gave the Nationals a snowball's chance in Houston of beating Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander in Games 1 and 2, and yet, voila.

Then the Astros suddenly found their mojo on the road, and, now, this is the first World Series since 1996 in which the visiting team has won each of the first five games and just the third time in history it's happened (the other came in the 1906 Fall Classic between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs).

Never has the road team won each of the first six games—which, if nothing else, provides some historical context of the task at hand for the Nationals if they are to avoid what suddenly appears to be the very real possibility of a total collapse.

"It's probably about as frustrating as them going 0-and-2 in Houston to start," Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "They did it [bounced back from losing at home]. So maybe we can do the same thing.

"We're all big boys."

More than most, this World Series has come accompanied by noise and unpredictability. Houston's arrogant, over-the-top reaction to a negative story involving clubhouse misbehavior of assistant general manager Brandon Taubman and his subsequent firing threatened to overshadow the first two games. Umpire Rob Drake, who is not working the series, diverted more attention from the field with a Twitter rant threatening civil war if the impeachment of President Donald Trump goes through, a rant for which he subsequently apologized. Then Trump attended Game 5 Sunday night and, when he was shown on the video board early in the game, was greeted with thunderous boos and fans chanting: "Lock him up! Lock him up!"

"To be honest, I really, really, really, really, really don't want to talk about it," Doolittle said of the presidential visit. "The only thing different was there was a lot more security."

Strasburg added: "Usually, the dogs that are sniffing in our clubhouse are these nice Labs that are super friendly. And today there was a German shepherd that I didn't really feel comfortable petting."

Now, Strasburg will look to replicate last week's World Series outing in Houston in which he held the Astros to two runs over six innings and beat Verlander. He has to come up with something similar. If not, it will be four consecutive losses and "see ya next year" for the Nats.

So the team whose slogan earlier this autumn was "Stay in the Fight" before it changed to "Finish the Fight" for the World Series is back to where it started and a hope that it can survive long enough to allow Scherzer one last shot.

"More than anything, he's hurting because he couldn't be out there with the guys," Doolittle said. "I don't know his prognosis for the rest of the series, but we tried really hard to pick him up.

"Hopefully, we can extend this thing."

                            

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer will not start Sunday's Game 5 of the World Series because of spasms in his trapezius muscle.  

Eric Stephen of SB Nation reported the news, noting manager Dave Martinez said Joe Ross will take the ball instead.

"He was in a bad place. He's really upset about it," Martinez said, per Mark Zuckerman.

Scherzer later spoke to reporters, saying he wasn't able to dress himself without his wife's help.

"It just blew up on me," Scherzer said. "I can't even move."

The right-hander also noted he can't lift his arm because of the injury. 

This is another setback for the right-hander this season after he broke his nose in June and was placed on the injured list multiple times in July with back problems.

Having numerous health concerns in a single season is relatively new for the 35-year-old, who made 30 or more starts 10 years in a row entering the 2019 campaign. That durability allowed him to develop into one of the best pitchers of his generation.

He is a three-time Cy Young Award winner and seven-time All-Star who has anchored pitching staffs with the Detroit Tigers and Nationals for much of his career. He is in the middle of one of the most dominant pitching stretches in recent memory, having won the National League Cy Young in 2016 and 2017 and finishing as the runner-up in 2018.

Scherzer led the league last season in a number of categories, including strikeouts (300), WHIP (0.91), innings pitched (220.2) and wins (18) while posting a 2.53 ERA. The Missouri native followed with a 2.92 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 243 strikeouts in 172.1 innings this year. 

The ability to unleash the one-two punch of Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg is a primary reason the Nationals reached the World Series. They are now two wins away from a championship and will likely need Ross, who struggled on his way to a 5.48 ERA this season but pitched well down the stretch, to deliver in a pressure-packed situation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Juan Soto sat on the red leather couch and beamed. He looked around and spied Anthony Rendon in one corner of the clubhouse, Max Scherzer in another, Stephen Strasburg over here, Ryan Zimmerman over there and…

"It's really amazing to be here on this team right now," he said.

So pick one:    

A) This was a scene following his World Series debut in Game 1, when the kid dubbed "Childish Bambino" absolutely annihilated a solo homer off Astros ace Gerrit Cole, roped a two-run double and picked up a single, scoring a three-RBI night while becoming only the fourth different player to homer in a Fall Classic before his 21st birthday—joining Miguel Cabrera (2003), Andruw Jones (1996) and Mickey Mantle (1952).

B) It was after Game 2, when Soto seared a double off Justin Verlander, convinced the Astros to do something they had never done this season—issue an intentional walk, which practically made those who have watched the Astros all season do spit takes on the spot—and tied Cabrera for the most postseason extra-base hits (six) in history by a player younger than 21.

C) It was early this spring, in February, before the Nationals had played a single Grapefruit League game.

If you answered C, step right up onto the Juan Soto Express.

And please make it quick, because this guy doesn't stay in one place very long and his autumn has "Breakout Star" stamped all over it.

Amazing barely begins to cover it, and not just because the Nationals, the biggest World Series underdogs since the 2007 Rockies, have leapt to a 2-0 series lead.

No, amazing barely begins to cover it because when you take measure of Soto's meteoric rise, it has been so steep and so fast that you might want to take an altitude-sickness pill before trying to assimilate.

Soto was speaking with wonder on that February day because he was starting his very first major league spring training camp. Signed as an amateur free agent in July 2015, Soto zipped through the minors in just two summers before the Nationals, in need of help following a rash of injuries, summoned him to the majors at 19 in May 2018.

It was going to be a temporary assignment.

Then the slugging started.

"It's amazing," Nationals ace Max Scherzer says, and there's that word again. "He came onto the scene and just hit the ground running. He continues to show his energy for the game, how he competes every pitch, and his plate discipline is as good as anybody's in the league. He's a special type of player. It's going to be fun to watch his maturation process and how the league continues to adjust to him."

Since Juan Soto has entered the league no one has more home runs on elevated pitches (24) and a higher SLG on elevated fastballs (.688)#WorldSeries | #OnePursuit

— Inside Edge (@IE_MLB) October 23, 2019

This, too, was spoken in February, before Soto even had a full major league season on the books.

And just look at how the league continues to "adjust" to him.

The homer against Cole on Tuesday night never freaking came down. Seriously. The Astros star, who hadn't lost a game since May 22, left a 96 mph fastball up over the outer third of the plate in the fourth inning, and the lefty-swinging Soto reached out and demolished it to the opposite field, so soaring and so deep that it disappeared over the train that rumbles high above left field in Minute Maid Park.

Alexa, play "C'mon N' Ride It" by Quad City DJs.

Because Juan Soto just hit baseball onto the train tracks.#ChildishBambino // #STAYINTHEFIGHT pic.twitter.com/Kn4qaBiHa7

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) October 23, 2019

A couple of Astros high-wire artists did a solid for the National Baseball Hall of Fame when the game was over, climbing up into the rafters somewhere to retrieve the historic memento for future display.

"Geez, man," Nationals co-closer Sean Doolittle says. "It's like he wants to get a couple of more home runs and extra-base hits before he turns 21 just so he can have some more records at 20."

Maybe that's why he's in such a rush. A few weeks ago, all casual baseball fans knew of Soto was likely that he'd been hyped as the future of the Nationals offense during Bryce Harper's lengthy departure and that he does that unique staredown of pitchers during at-bats. And now? Get this: When the curtain rises on Game 3 on Friday night, the World Series will be making its first appearance in the District of Columbia since 1933…and it just so happens to fall on Soto's 21st birthday.

Everything is going the Birthday Boy's way.

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Smashing jaw-dropping home runs is far from Soto's only skill, but it absolutely is one of his most prodigious ones.

Know what this kid was doing a mere 11 months ago? He was part of an MLB All-Star team tour of Japan that doubled as his very own, very personal study abroad program.

He was launching moonshots there, too.

During one game, Soto swatted a ball so hard that it hit the Tokyo Dome ceiling above the part of the field where the turf meets the right field fence, high above the warning track.

As Boston Red Sox reliever and fellow tour-mate Brian Johnson tells it, the ball dropped straight down after clanging off the roof and was caught for an out.

"We all kind of looked at each other like, 'Where's that ball end up if it doesn't hit the roof?'" Johnson says. "It hits the very last part of the Dome and breaks through it?

"He's incredible."

And he was the baby of the team. During the six games there, his education continued every day, both on the field and away from it.

What did Soto learn?

"To be more of a teammate," he says. "Know what you have to do in tough situations. I learned to play more situational. How to play aggressive. How to control my emotions in front of loud fans."

He found he liked everything about Japan during the whirlwind trip, from the baseball to the culture.

"Better than I thought," he says. "I liked the sushi. It was really good. I ate it all. I eat sushi here and I don't know—it doesn't taste the same."

His favorite moments, he says, were when the players went out walking around as a team, sightseeing. The Tokyo Tower, he says, was a particularly fun stop.

What really left an impression on him, though, was the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. There, among other things, he saw shadow boxes displaying clothes that were torn and burnt, keys and other scraps that were retrieved from the victims and later housed in the museum dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II.

"That was a first for me," Soto says. "I've never seen that. That was a little bit sad.

"I feel sad for it. When I get in there, it was hard to see."

Among Soto's teammates on the trip were St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina, who has developed into a father figure in his life, and Cleveland slugger Carlos Santana. He singles them out as especially good mentors.

"He's the greatest," Soto says of Molina. "He's really good. And I'm young. I have to learn from everybody."

Not only is that humility one of his most endearing and essential qualities, but it is baked into the mix that has helped the precocious superstar ascend this October as if he were the Great Pumpkin himself.

"I got feedback [from the Japan trip], and everybody said nothing but really wonderful things about not just him as baseball player, but about what kind of person he is," Nationals manager Davey Martinez says. "That means a lot not just to me, but to his teammates as well."

Reminder: Juan Soto saw the original prototype of his bobblehead giveaway this season and asked the designer to revise it and make him smile more. #juansotothings https://t.co/MJzIHuy83o pic.twitter.com/8jOtYZ9RcW

— Scott Allen (@ScottSAllen) October 23, 2019

Says Scherzer: "He gets it. He understands. He shows respect for the veterans, respect in the clubhouse. He's not an ego guy. You can tell he wants to play for the team and he wants to learn. He wants people to show him the way, how to play the game the best way and how to play it right.

"There's little flaws in his game. That's what I respect most about him, his desire to learn the game and his desire to be coachable. Not every player plays the game that way, and that's why I love having him on our team."

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So what happened between Japan and this season? Believe it or not, the Nationals told Soto to cool it.

True story: He wanted to move right from last major league season to the Japan tour to winter ball in his native Dominican Republic. But that wasn't exactly the blueprint the Nationals had in mind.

"He played more than he ever played last year," Martinez says. "For me, it was wonderful he got to experience going to Japan, but after that we said, 'Hey, you're done.'"

So he worked out in Santo Domingo with a couple of friends who were minor leaguers, experienced his first big league spring training, hit .282/.401/.548 with 34 homers and 110 RBI in his first full MLB season and now astoundingly is treating the two American League Cy Young favorites, Cole and Verlander, as if they are his own personal speed bags.

The game-tying homer off Cole that erased the only lead the Astros have held in this series?

"I'm glad I faced him in spring training, too," Soto says. "So I know how the ball is going to be, how high it's going to be, the curveball, the slider, everything.

"And I got the [scouting] report. He throws a lot of fastballs. He likes to throw the fastball. I just sit there and waited for the fastball."

Around the clubhouse in Houston, the Nationals weren't so much amazed as they were expressing a solo Soto fact: Hey, knuckleheads, this is what we've witnessed all summer. Where has everybody been?

"He always goes to the plate to fight," infielder Asdrubal Cabrera says, adding after Game 1, "It seems like he was here before."

Says left-hander Patrick Corbin: "No moment is too big for that guy."

So far, the only World Series moment he's had in which he didn't appear beyond his years came in his very first at-bat in the first inning of Game 1. That was the only time in these two games, he admits, "that I get a little nervous."

Cole struck him out on three straight fastballs: He swung through a 97 mph heater for strike one, took a called 98 mph fastball for strike two and then swung through 99 mph cheese for strike three. Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight.

"After I strike out I say, 'Hey, it's just another game. It's just another way to play baseball,'" he says.

Next time up, ka-boom!

At 20 years and 362 days in Game 1, Soto became the second-youngest cleanup hitter in a World Series game in the past 100 years, after Cabrera (20 years and 183 days in 2003).

In six World Series at-bats so far, Soto has crushed the homer to left-center, smashed the double off the left field wall, punched the single up the middle and driven the other double into the right field corner. Talk about hitting to all fields, and on the grandest stage against the best pitching. It's like he's immersed in his own game of around-the-world.

His other secrets to dealing with pressure: breathe deeply, focus and, sometimes, pop some gum into his mouth. Chomp!

"He's so poised and calm you can't say enough about him," shortstop Trea Turner says.

A D.C. television guy egged him on in the clubhouse late Wednesday night until Soto agreed that, yes, why not, it would be very nice if the Nationals Park crowd sang a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" to him Friday night. And, hey, why not? Right now, life is just one big party for Soto and the red-hot Nationals, who have taken to holding quick clubhouse dances after each victory.

"I don't know what it is," he says of the music, "but it makes everybody jump."

So, too, does Soto. And what he's really eager for this weekend, he says—picking up on the Nationals' ongoing "Stay in the Fight" theme—is "finishing the fight."

"We've been working a lot for this since the first day. It's been amazing. Right now, we're trying to finish this and win it all."

As he talked, there were Scherzer and Strasburg down the row of lockers, Rendon across the room, Zimmerman over there…and the chaos of the media horde, suitcases, dirty towels and a plane ride back home all around them. If it was amazing to be with these guys on a quiet afternoon in February, what the heck is it like now, just two wins away from seizing D.C.'s first World Series title since 1924?

"It's a blast for me and my teammates," he says. "Everything is going our way.

"We beat everyone in the National League. And now, we have to win two more games [at home]. It feels really good right now."

               

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball. 

HOUSTON — Seven years later, Stephen Strasburg has come for his World Series.

The powerhouse right-hander who will start Game 2 here Wednesday night no longer comes packaged with the suffocating noise that accompanied him back when he arrived as the most-hyped pitcher of our time. The passage of the seasons has allowed him to breathe. To grow. To enjoy even a modicum, every now and then, of quiet.

"We all have our different stories," he noted upon arriving at Minute Maid Park on Monday, a day before the Nationals would take a 1-0 series lead with a 5-4 win Tuesday night.

And so we do. The trick is to eventually reach the place where we can tell our own, rather than have them told for us.

On the postseason mound this month, Strasburg, finally, has arrived at that place.

"Him and Harp, those guys came up with unfair hype," Ryan Zimmerman, the longest-tenured member of the Nationals, said of Strasburg and their ex-teammate, Bryce Harper. "People were talking the last couple of years like his career wasn't a good career, which is silly.

"You look at his numbers. We're going to ride our pitching. It's what we've been doing all year."

Strasburg this year led the National League in innings pitched (209) and wins (18), was second in strikeouts (251) and ranked fifth in WHIP (1.04). Only two other NL pitchers started more games than Strasburg's 33: San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner and Philadelphia's Aaron Nola.

His playoff numbers are even more striking: In four games and 22 innings this autumn, he is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA. And in seven career postseason games (six starts), Strasburg is 4-2 with a 1.10 ERA.

But part of his story always will be the way the Nationals kept him cocooned in protective bubble wrap early in his career, most notably in 2012—his first full season in the majors—when they shut him down at 159.1 innings pitched in early September. They were in the thick of the pennant race and finished that season with the best record in the majors at 98-64.

This injury-prevention plan was a hotly debated move at the time and, seven years later, you can still find plenty of folks on both side of that fence. The only truth is this: Strasburg watched without contributing as the Nationals were stunned by St. Louis in a Division Series, one of their best pitchers left idling in the dugout garage.

Don't worry, the Nationals all but shouted at the time. We're loaded. We'll be back and Stephen will have plenty of chances.

Yeah, well. Not so much.

Starting for the Astros opposite Strasburg in Game 2 will be Justin Verlander, who, interestingly, was in similar circumstances back in his first full season in the majors, in 2006. The Detroit Tigers were surprise contenders that summer and ran the October table all the way to the World Series before losing to St. Louis.

Like Strasburg in '12, Verlander was in his Age 23 season. But the Tigers allowed him to pitch until the end. He threw 186 regular-season innings and another 21.2 in the playoffs. He said the Tigers never discussed shutting him down.

"I don't know what my reaction would have been," Verlander, who posted a 5.82 ERA that postseason, told B/R on Monday. "Not good. But, obviously, I was dragging. I had run out of gas. But I needed to be out there. We didn't have another starter.

"And, honestly, I look back at it as a moment that I almost taught my body how to pitch through October. I was almost like, 'OK, hey, this is what's expected of you, this is what you're going to have to do.' And you're not hurt, right? I didn't hurt my arm. I was just out of gas. So it was, 'OK, figure it out.'"

In many ways, Verlander said, it was not unlike when he made the transition from pitching once a week at Old Dominion University to starting every fifth day in pro ball.

"Those days in between, I was shot," Verlander said. "My bullpens were horrible, everything was bad. But that next year, it was like my body knew what to expect. It was like, 'OK, I can do this.' The same thing happened working through an October season and then working 200 innings season after season. You just teach yourself how to do it."

We all have our different stories.

"At the beginning of his career, I don't think he enjoyed it," Zimmerman said. "It was almost unfair to him, those expectations he had as a kid."

As with Harper, Zimmerman sometimes wondered how Strasburg could breathe from underneath the weight of those heaping expectations. Especially in the beginning, if Strasburg didn't strike out 14 hitters a game (as he did in his MLB debut versus Pittsburgh on June 8, 2010) or threaten to fire a no-hitter, it was as if his outing was a disappointment.

Strasburg is 31 now, with a wife, two young daughters, a seven-year, $175 million contract (with an opt-out clause after this season if he decides to invoke it) and a full-time home in the Washington, D.C. area. He seems more at ease, but that's relative. He is intensely private, suspicious by nature and, in some ways, seems scarred by the talons of those early expectations.

For example, he reflexively deflects any question that might be perceived as leading even in the slightest direction toward any possible shortcoming. Strasburg once said he defines a true ace as a workhorse who piles up 200-inning seasons. So it would figure that he'd be willing to discuss what leading the NL in innings pitched this year meant to him, but old habits are hard to break. 

"Honestly, I don't really look at numbers," Strasburg, who now has thrown 200 or more innings twice in his career, said Monday. "Going into the season, the goal for me is pretty simple: Just take the ball every time they wanted me to. I didn't know what it was going to look like, but I really felt like at this point in my career there's no looking back. Leave it all out there."

He always has been laser-focused and exceptionally prepared, sometimes to a fault. Zimmerman sees a maturation in Strasburg both as a person and as a pitcher. The former has contributed not only to Strasburg's recent run of success but also to his suddenly more pliable nature. He pitched in relief during Washington's wild-card win over Milwaukee, and for the first time in his career, he pitched on short rest in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Dodgers.

"A lot of pitchers, when they're young, they let little things bother them," Zimmerman says. "A strike that isn't called, an error. The way he shakes things off now, it's all business. Obviously, his stuff is second to none."

Gone are the days when the uncomfortable slope of a mound that wasn't packed properly will throw him off of his game. That story is real, by the way. It happened in his second MLB start, in Cleveland in 2010.

"He still has that in him," said Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart, who goes back with Strasburg to the Arizona Fall League in 2009. "What time's the anthem? If the anthem isn't right when they say it is, he's like, 'Are you....' And I'm like, 'I'm not in control of the anthem, it said 6:57.' He looks at me now like, 'Yeah, you're probably right. You don't have any control of that, do you?'"

No longer does he let those little things zap his concentration and ruffle his game. And, today's Strasburg comes with a smile that escapes his face a little more than it once did, and, shockingly, dancing. The Nationals hold short, impromptu dugout dance parties after home runs, and Gerardo Parra, a backup outfielder who also is Washington's self-appointed director of entertainment and good vibes, has made it his personal project to include Strasburg.

Just Stephen Strasburg and Gerardo Parra dancing. Guest appearance: A lightsaber. #offtherails #Nats pic.twitter.com/RVixWVrhRa

— Brian McNally (@bmcnally14) October 16, 2019

"Ah man, I don't know how [those videos] got out," Strasburg said, chuckling. "It's been a process. You kind of just have to roll with it. They've asked me to dance so many times, I'm bound to get a little better."

He probably won't be invited onto Dancing With the Stars anytime soon, but it's a start. Strasburg simply is one of those guys who, even when he's at his loosest, sometimes still carries himself as if his shirt is too tight. It's just him. And it's part of why his teammates get such a kick out of it when they induce a smile or a dance.

"I'm happy to see Stephen happy right now," Parra said. "Everybody talked about Stephen as such a serious guy. He's a great guy. He's got a great heart. And I'm so happy right now that he's enjoying [himself]."

Certainly, and this is something we had no way of knowing during the shutdown year of 2012, October suits him. And now, as he finally prepares to make his World Series debut, the Astros know they've got a battle on their hands. Alex Bregman talked about Strasburg's lethal changeup and how the key is to be "selectively aggressive." Meaning, hitters can't chase out of the strike zone, but they've got to be locked and loaded for a pitch they can handle.

"I see a guy who's got tremendous stuff and really knows how to use it," Verlander said. "He keeps guys off balance. Even his offspeed goes two different directions. He can kind of get you going backwards and forwards and in and out. It's a pretty deadly combination when you can get batters in between on all your stuff."

So here he is, having come for his first World Series, in some ways seven years too late but in other ways right on time. Watch him move around freely outside of his comfort zone. Look at him pitching in relief, starting on short rest, refusing to let the little things beat him anymore. Count all of that a part of the deadly combination, too. It's all part of the package.

And, ahem…dancing.

"We have a lot of guys who like to have fun," he shrugged. "And I'm not going to be Debbie Downer."

At one time, he would have been.

But we all have our different stories, don't we?

     

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

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Even the hottest pitcher in baseball was no match for the sport's foremost slugging prodigy in Game 1 of the World Series.

Though Tuesday's Fall Classic opener between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park was originally billed as a bout between aces Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole, Juan Soto stole the show while leading the Nationals to their first-ever World Series victory with a 5-4 win.

Washington's left fielder got the first of his three knocks—he also stole a base for good measure—with a game-tying solo home run off Cole in the fourth inning that landed on the train tracks beyond left field:

Juan Soto is 20. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/BPS7FSkSoO

— MLB (@MLB) October 23, 2019

In the fifth inning, Soto got to Cole again with a double to left that brought home the last two runs the Nationals would need:

This is Juan Soto's first #WorldSeries game.

But you wouldn't know it based on these at-bats. pic.twitter.com/XTjcwHbl3a

— MLB (@MLB) October 23, 2019

The following will only be true until Thursday, but it's worth emphasizing in the meantime anyway: Soto is only 20 years old.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Soto is the second-youngest player, after only Andruw Jones, to go deep in his World Series debut. To boot, Jones, Miguel Cabrera and Mickey Mantle are the only three players to homer at any point in the World Series at a younger age than Soto.

"He's a special player," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who also homered in Game 1, told Tom Verducci of Fox Sports. "And [he has been] really since the day he came up. You can tell the special ones when they're young because they can slow the game down. And to be able to slow the game down on this stage, he's got a chance to be pretty good."

Soto has indeed been not only one of the league's top hitters since he debuted in 2018, but he's also been one of the best young hitters in the history of Major League Baseball.

Out of all the players who've logged at least 1,000 plate appearances through their age-20 season, only three have posted a better OPS+:

• 1. Ty Cobb: 145
• 2. Mickey Mantle and Mel Ott: 144
• 4. Juan Soto: 140

Yet it really hasn't been until this month that Soto has found himself under an appropriately bright spotlight. He's certainly revealed himself as a natural-born entertainer with some, ahem, peculiar habits in the box, but he's also made sure not to leave many big moments un-seized.

Soto began carving out his postseason legend with the decisive hit in the National League Wild Card Game, and then with a game-tying homer off Clayton Kershaw in Game 5 of the Division Series. The latter paved the way for Washington's eventual upset of the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers.

Soto faced a whole new challenge in taking his first World Series hacks against Cole. All the right-hander did in 2019 was lead the American League with a 2.50 ERA and achieve the highest strikeouts-per-nine rate in MLB history. He also went into the World Series with a 1.60 ERA over his last 25 starts, postseason included.

However, Cole didn't even need to make mistakes to get beat by Soto. The left-handed swinger tapped into his superior opposite-field hitting talent to do damage on a 96 mph fastball up in the zone and a 90 mph backdoor slider.

In other words, Soto became the hero of Game 1 by hitting pitcher's pitches from perhaps the best pitcher of them all. 

Game 1 wasn't a total loss for Cole, as he at least took a load off Houston's bullpen by pitching through the seventh inning. Yet his six strikeouts were his fewest since he logged only four back on Aug. 1, and it was his first outing with as many as five earned runs since May 22.

The 29-year-old's fastball maxed out at 99.3 mph, and he was snapping off nasty breaking balls, so his stuff wasn't the problem. He nonetheless got the Nationals to swing and miss at only 13 pitches, which is on the low end of his usual standards.

Surprising? Not necessarily.

The Astros, who led MLB with 107 wins in the regular season, exploited two whiff-happy clubs in the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees on their way to the World Series. The Nationals, on the other hand, finished their regular season with the lowest swinging-strike rate in the National League.

If Washington's penchant for tough at-bats can work against Cole, there's little reason to think it can't also work against fellow aces Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke in Games 2 and 3. If so, the Nats must feel confident that Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin will get the better end of those matchups.

Yet for their part, the Astros aren't in a totally unfamiliar spot. They also lost Game 1 of the 2017 World Series against the Dodgers, only to storm back and take the series in seven games. And they didn't even have home-field advantage two years ago. They do this year.

The Astros also showed signs in Game 1 of being ready to bust out of their collective slump in the clutch. They had three hits with runners in scoring position, which is only two fewer than they had in the entire American League Championship Series.

Still, the Astros should probably win a game before they get their hopes up too high. And if Game 1 taught them anything, it's that they'd better be careful when handling Washington's resident wunderkind.

                

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

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The Washington Nationals are likely thanking the New York Yankees.

While the World Series will start on Tuesday regardless of whether the ALCS goes six or seven games, the longer that the Houston Astros and Yankees play, the more tired the winner will be heading into Tuesday's Game 1.

Facing elimination on Friday night, the Bronx Bombers used early-inning home runs from DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks and a strong start from James Paxton to outduel Houston ace Justin Verlander and company to the tune of 4-1.

Despite Game 4's postponement to Thursday because of a rain delay, the remaining games in Houston will be played on schedule, with Game 6 occurring Saturday and Game 7 taking place Sunday if need be.

                

World Series Schedule

Tuesday, October 22 (Game 1): Nationals at Astros/Yankees, 8 p.m. ET

Wednesday, October 23 (Game 2): Nationals at Astros/Yankees, 8 p.m. ET

Friday, October 25 (Game 3): Astros/Yankees at Nationals, 8 p.m. ET

Saturday, October 26 (Game 4): Astros/Yankees at Nationals, 8 p.m. ET

Sunday, October 27 (Game 5, if necessary): Astros/Yankees at Nationals, 8 p.m. ET

Tuesday, October 29 (Game 6, if necessary): Nationals at Astros/Yankees, 8 p.m. ET

Wednesday, October 30 (Game 7, if necessary): Nationals at Astros/Yankees, 8 p.m. ET

All World Series games will be televised by Fox.

           

While they are likely fretting about both potential final bosses, the Washington Nationals should take a few moments to celebrate their incredible 2019 season.

They were 12 games under .500 in the middle of May, and the loss of Bryce Harper seemed to be taking a toll. Not to worry—Davey Martinez's club finished the year on a 74-38 tear and have been red-hot ever since. They sneaked by the behemoth Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, advancing thanks to an extra-inning grand slam from former Dodger Howie Kendrick in the decisive Game 5, and they never once looked out of place against the St. Louis Cardinals in the following round.

Oh, the Cardinals scored 10 runs in an inning against the Atlanta Braves to seal their NLDS victory? No matter. Washington held them to a preposterous .130 batting average over the series' four games. One of St. Louis' starters, Jack Flaherty, posted a 1.22 ERA after July—should Washington be worried? The answer there was a quick no. Flaherty lasted just four innings in the NLCS, giving up as many earned runs in Game 3 as he did in all of September over six starts.

Despite the loss of their ostensible franchise savior last offseason to an NL East rival, the Nationals look more excited and more focused than ever. They will be a worthy opponent to either Houston or New York.

                      

Predictions

Even given all the above praise of Washington, the Nationals are likely in for a tough World Series, no matter who comes out of the ALCS. 

If Houston wins, then they will be the heavy favorites.

The Astros haven't hit particularly well against New York (just a team .182 batting average, but they have done enough damage and in the right spots). In the 11th inning of a sleepy Game 2, shortstop Carlos Correa crushed a walk-off home run to even the series, while early Game 3 home runs from Jose Altuve and Josh Reddick provided sufficient run support for Gerrit Cole to carry the team to victory.

And speaking of Cole, Houston boasts a clear pitching edge over Washington, even against the Nationals' All-Star trio of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin.

While Zack Greinke has not been himself in the postseason to the tune of a 6.43 ERA over 14 innings pitched in three starts, Cole and Justin Verlander have maintained their laser-like focus seamlessly into October. While Verlander made a few mistakes at the top of Game 5, he settled down and was masterful for the remainder of his seven innings. Cole, meanwhile, has enjoyed a basically spotless postseason, allowing just one earned run over three starts while striking out 32 batters.

If the Yankees, a team with no easy outs throughout their starting lineup, can look helpless against those two, then how will Washington—they of the .243 team postseason batting average—fare?

As for a potential Yankees-Nationals series, let's just say that if New York is able to win two more games and conquer this Astros team, then it will have likely unlocked its potential as a limitlessly dominant two-way force. This will include ace-level production from Luis Severino, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka on the mound and incredible offensive power from Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres and the rest of the Bronx Bombers.

The Nationals should be incredibly proud to have made their first World Series. But winning those final four games is an entirely different beast. Both ALCS participants should win the Fall Classic—Houston in five, New York in six.

In seven seasons in the nation's capital, Bryce Harper never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Now, the Washington Nationals are preparing to play in their first-ever World Series during Year 1 of the post-Harper era.

Although that storyline has been the talk of the internet, the Philadelphia Phillies outfielder doesn't hold any hard feelings.

"They made their decision, and I made my decision as well," Harper told The Athletic's Jayson Stark. "I made the best decision for my family. And I am so happy to be in Philly. It's the place that I wanted to be." 

For those wondering: No, he's not jealous. He told Stark he's "so happy" for his former teammates:

"No, because like I said, I made my decision, and that was my decision. And it was the final decision that I made. You know, jealousy isn't good. For me, it's about having the gratitude to go out and do what I do each day and not having an attitude towards anybody else.

"I think it's about being able to be the person that I am and not saying to myself, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm not a National.' Or, 'Oh my gosh, those guys are doing what they're doing. I can't believe it. I'm so jealous.' No. I'm so happy for them. You know how hard it is to get into the postseason and win games. For them to be able to put it together this year the way they have, it's an amazing thing."

Drafted No. 1 overall in 2010, Harper spent the first nine years of his professional career with the Nats organization. The outfielder earned a number of accolades, including the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year award, six All-Star selections and the 2015 NL MVP award, while helping the team transform into a contender.

With free agency on the horizon, though, he turned down a $300 million extension from Washington near the end of the 2018 season. Harper, who turned 27 on Wednesday, signed a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Phillies in March.

Philadelphia hung in the playoff race for much of the 2019 regular season but was ultimately eliminated from contention on Sept. 24. Against the Nationals. In Washington.

Harper and the Phillies, who finished 81-81, have been forced to watch the postseason from home. Meanwhile, the Nationals, who earned a wild-card berth with a 93-69 record after going 82-80 last season, have reeled off six consecutive victories en route to their first NL pennant.

Last month, Harper's wife, Kayla, called out Nationals fans on social media for being "classless," saying hecklers crossed the line by talking about her newborn son. The Harpers haven't let that sour their view of the organization, though.

Bryce told Stark of the Nationals' postseason run: "I've been watching a lot of it. Those are the guys I played with and came through the organization with. ... I wish them nothing but the best. And that's real. I have no hard feelings toward them or [general manager] Mike Rizzo or anything like that. You know, they're a great team. And that's why they are where they are."

During his introductory press conference in Philadelphia, Harper slipped up and said he wanted "to bring a title back to D.C." Little did he know his former teammates would have an opportunity to do exactly that this October.

The Washington Nationals took care of business early, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, and are now waiting to see if they'll be facing the Houston Astros or New York Yankees in the World Series.

Regardless of which squad represents the American League, the Nationals will be underdogs. All of Washington D.C. probably scoffs at mention of that, though, given the Nats' path to make it this far. Not to mention, according to MLB Stats, six of the nine previous teams to sweep the NLCS went on to win the World Series.

The Astros hold a 2-1 lead over the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. While the rest of that matchup plays out, take a look ahead below at the World Series' schedule, ticket information and matchup predictions.

       

Schedule of Dates 

Game 1, Tuesday, Oct. 22: Washington Nationals at American League winner

Game 2, Wednesday, Oct. 23: Washington Nationals at American League winner

Game 3, Friday, Oct. 25: American League winner at Washington Nationals

Game 4, Saturday, Oct. 26: American League winner at Washington Nationals

Game 5*, Sunday, Oct. 27: American League winner at Washington Nationals

Game 6*, Tuesday, Oct. 29: Washington Nationals at American League winner

Game 7*, Wednesday, Oct. 30: Washington Nationals at American League winner

      

*denotes if necessary

Schedule via MLB.com

     

Ticket Info 

World Series tickets are available for purchase at StubHub.

      

Matchup Predictions

The Washington Nationals were not expected to come back and defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in the NL Wild Card Game, much less make it to the franchise's first World Series. 

As of May 25, at 21-31, the Nats had an even slimmer chance of winning the NL pennant:

So you’re telling me there’s a chance! pic.twitter.com/QJjq2P3r4c

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2019

But here they are, and it's no fluke. 

Nationals since September 23...
16-2
2.94 ERA
99-55 run differential
12-1, 2.69 rotation
0.97 WHIP rotation
12.3 K/9 rotation
21 HRs from offense
.792 OPS

— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) October 16, 2019

The Nationals first upset the top-seeded and 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers, who had represented the NL in the last two Fall Classics, 3-2 in the National League Division Series. Washington then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, outscoring the Cardinals 20-6 in the process. 

Heading into the World Series, the Nationals' starting rotation figures to remain their strength:

Siri, what’s the definition of domination? pic.twitter.com/joQXsKlNej

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 16, 2019

As great as Washington's starting pitching has been, the offense has kept pace. Second baseman Howie Kendrick was named the NLCS MVP after hitting .333/.412/.600 with four doubles and four RBI. Kendrick's production wasn't limited to that series, having hit the series-winning grand slam in Game 5 against the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Over last 3 yrs, the highest batting average in MLB (w 800 PA) is Howie Kendrick --.325. In that time his slash is .325/.373/.516. Almost IDENTICAL in '17-'19 to Jose Altuve: .321/.385/.517. Howie isn't just good, he's a secret STAR. And w Oct off days, he can play every day.

— Thomas Boswell (@ThomasBoswellWP) October 15, 2019

Outside of Kendrick, All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon has been crucial at the plate throughout the postseason with a .375/.465/.594 slash line. Add in 20-year-old outfielder Juan Soto's two home runs and seven RBI in 10 games so far, and the Nats are anything but one dimensional.

Top players in championship win probability added in 2019:

+21.0% Gerrit Cole
+16.1% Anthony Rendon
+14.2% Juan Soto
+10.5% Max Scherzer
+8.7% Gleyber Torres
+8.6% Jose Altuve
+8.5% Walker Buehler
+8.3% Anibal Sanchez

— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) October 16, 2019

https://twitter.com/DevanFink/status/1184618115671449600

Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Anibal Sanchez have rivaled heralded Astros' starters Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke. Should Houston become Washington's opponent, it would make sense to expect a tight, low-scoring affair based on those arms alone. 

Since May 22, @GerritCole45 has been nearly untouchable.

In that span he’s gone 19-1 with a 1.86 ERA and 265 Ks. 😨 pic.twitter.com/nUxwJ640da

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 16, 2019

But the Yankees finished the regular season first in runs (943) and second in home runs (306). The Nationals' 45 runs are the most this postseason, with the Yankees' 33 second.

The Yankees have utilized small ball more than the long ball since the calendar turned to October. The offense has been led by 22-year-old Gleyber Torres' .417/.481/.958 slash line for three home runs and 10 RBI. If New York can get to Washington's starters early, through a home run or batting around, things could get out of hand quickly given D.C.'s poor bullpen. 

From Washington's perspective, the Yankees feel like the more preferable matchup.

The Yankees looked unstoppable during their 3-0 sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series, but their offense has been stifled in two straight losses to the Houston Astros in the ALCS after winning Game 1 7-0. That bodes well for the Nationals, who are modeled similarly to Houston. 

The Nationals' offense has been better in the postseason than the Astros', though. 

It's tough to pencil in a clear prediction without knowing which AL side Washington will face, but it's also tough to imagine either team slowing down the well-rounded Nationals right now.

One of the two 2019 World Series participants is now official.

On Monday night, the Washington Nationals clinched the first Fall Classic berth in franchise history, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 and capping off a dominant four-game sweep.

As expected, the ALCS is proceeding at a far more leisurely pace. Behind the arm of their white-hot ace Gerrit Cole, the Houston Astros beat back the New York Yankees 4-1 and took a 2-1 series lead with two more games yet to play in the Big Apple.

     

2018 World Series Schedule

Game 1: Tuesday, October 22, Washington at TBD (Time TBD, Fox) 

Game 2: Wednesday, October 23, Washington at TBD (Time TBD, Fox) 

Game 3: Friday, October 25, TBD at Washington (Time TBD, Fox) 

Game 4: Saturday, October 26, TBD at Washington (Time TBD, Fox) 

Game 5: Sunday, October 27, TBD at Washington (Time TBD, Fox) 

Game 6: Tuesday, October 29, Washington at TBD (Time TBD, Fox) 

Game 7: Wednesday, October 30, Washington at TBD (Time TBD, Fox) 

     

LCS Predictions

Astros in 7

The first three games of this matchup have proceeded as expected.

New York took advantage of a tired Astros offense and off-kilter Zack Greinke in Game 1, and Houston fired back with their co-aces in Games 2 and 3 to rebalance home field advantage and gain control of the series. Now, it gets interesting.

Interestingly, both Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Astros manager AJ Hinch intimated that Game 4 will likely be a "bullpen day." This likely means that they will make use of the newfangled "opener" strategy, beginning the game with a non-starter and pitching him just a few innings.

This makes sense for the Yankees given their strong bullpen and Boone's recently itchy trigger finger, but it is a bit curious for Houston given their three outstanding starters. Obviously, Verlander and Cole would not be pitching on full rest if they were to start Game 4, and maybe Hinch just wants to give Greinke extra rest after a rough couple of postseason outings, but this has the potential to backfire on Houston.

If the Yankees are unafraid of the Astros' starters like they seem to be, what might they do to a lineup of Houston relievers who are not perennial All-Star candidates? 

New York seems likely to take Game 4 at home and keep the status quo, and so then the series becomes a best-of-three set, where Houston once again boasts a clear pitching advantage in at least two of the matchups. The X-factor for the remainder of this series may turn out to be the Yankees' hitters.

At times, they have looked completely fearless. The standout middle infield of Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu, in particular, has continued its superlative regular season into October, while Aaron Judge rocketed a home run off of Verlander in Game 2 and has been a solid two-way presence for the Yankees throughout most of the postseason. It's the supporting players who will be the difference. Can guys like Edwin Encarnacion, Didi Gregorius, and Brett Gardner put New York over the top here? 

If they rise to the occasion against Houston's terrific trio, then the Yankees have a real shot at their first World Series in a decade. If not, then the Astros are primed for their second title in three years. 

All things considered, Houston's a more talented team than the Yankees and is operating from a position of strength for the remaining four games. They move on to face Washington in the Fall Classic.

Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick took home the National League Championship Series MVP award on Tuesday after the Nats swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win the NL pennant.   

Howie Kendrick:

➖ Traded to Washington
➖ Ruptured his Achilles in May 2018
➖ Played 121 games in 2019, while hitting .344
➖ Wins NLCS MVP as Nationals go to World Series pic.twitter.com/a5iPmnwwpg

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 16, 2019

Howie! Howie! Howie! pic.twitter.com/3mroziNBx0

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2019

The 36-year-old went 5-of-15 with four RBI and four runs. His RBI single gave the Nats an insurance run in a 2-0 win over St. Louis in Game 1. He also led the Nats offense in Game 3 with three doubles, three RBI and two runs in an 8-1 victory.

The series continues an excellent October for Kendrick, who smacked a go-ahead grand slam in the 10th inning of Washington's 7-3 comeback win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLDS.

Per MLB Stats, Kendrick is also the third-oldest player to win the NLCS MVP award, which has been in existence since 1977:

This is Howie do it in the NLCS. pic.twitter.com/HSR3OFyNVL

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 16, 2019

Kendrick has played 14 MLB seasons, beginning with the Los Angeles Angels in 2006. After stops with the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies, Kendrick was traded to Washington in the middle of the 2017 season.

Kendrick re-signed with the Nats on a two-year deal in 2018, but a ruptured Achilles suffered in May ended his season.

Undeterred, the veteran shined for the Nats in 2019, hitting a team-leading .344 alongside 17 home runs, 62 RBI and a .966 OPS in 121 games. The versatile infielder was also a tremendous asset in the field, filling in at first, second and third base.

Kendrick will be making his first World Series appearance, and the Nationals will follow suit.

Washington, D.C. hasn't seen an MLB team make the Fall Classic since 1933 when the Senators (now Minnesota Twins) represented the American League in a five-game loss to the New York Giants.

The Nats, who were the Montreal Expos from 1969-2004, have only made the NLCS twice in franchise history. The first time occurred in 1981 when Montreal lost to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Expos had a chance for greatness in 1994 when they led the entire league with a 74-40 record, but a strike prematurely ended the season and canceled the World Series.

Pedro Martinez, who was that team's staff ace and was part of the MLB on TBS postgame broadcast, even congratulated his old team in French:

Pedro Martinez opens up the TBS postgame show saying "bonne chance to the Nationals slash Expos, bonne chance, mon ami."

Love it.

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 16, 2019

The Nationals will face either the Houston Astros or New York Yankees in the World Series, which will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The Astros have a 2-1 edge over the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

Regardless of the pennant winner, the AL representative will have home-field advantage and host Games 1 and 2.