(Photo Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

Nationals take home first World Series win

The Washington Nationals overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Houston Astros 6-2 in Game 7 on Wednesday night to win the World Series for the first time.

In an odd and unprecedented twist, the visiting team won each of the seven games. Washington won all four on the road while losing the middle three at home.

Nats third baseman Anthony Rendon hit a solo home run off Zach Greinke in the seventh inning to cut the Astros’ lead to 2-1 and Greinke walked Juan Soto. Though Greinke had thrown only 80 pitches and had basically stifled the Nats, manager A.J. Hinch pulled him for reliever Will Harris. Howie Kendrick promptly hit an opposite-field homer that put the Nats ahead 3-2. The Astros’ relievers crumbled thereafter and the Nationals added to their lead.

Hinch acknowledged the difficulty of his decision and the ramifications.

“I’ll think about it,” he said. “And I don’t know what would have happened had I left him in.”

The Nationals survived a terrible start to the season (19-31 record) but scrambled into the playoffs as a wild card. They survived five elimination games to win the city’s first baseball title since the Washington Senators (first of two such franchises) in 1924.
“The biggest thing for us is, never quit. We know that. We were 19-31. We didn’t quit then. We weren’t gonna quit now,” Nats manager Davey Martinez said.

The Nationals also overcame a playoff history of disappointments and failures to advance to join other recent D.C. champions – the Washington Capitals (NHL) and the Mystics (WNBA). Their motto – Stay in the Fight – was changed postgame to Fight Finished.

The Nationals will get to bask in the public’s adulation during a parade in Washington on Saturday.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman