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On The Road To The World Series

After a record-setting season of home runs, we now turn our attention to a World Series likely to be dominated by pitching.

That doesn’t mean nobody will hit. The Houston Astros hit. The Washington Nationals hit. But the pitching matchups will likely make the memories in the fall classic that opens on Tuesday night (8:08 p.m. ET, Fox) in Houston.

Game 1 will see Max Scherzer on the mound for the Nats, against the Astros’ Gerrit Cole. Cole led the majors in strikeouts while winning 20 games; Scherzer was eighth. Both posted ERAs under 3.00. Houston is 16-0 in Cole’s last 16 starts. The Astros led the majors in strikeouts; the Nats were second.

More of the same will follow. Expect the Nats to throw Stephen Strasburg on Wednesday night against Justin Verlander and then Patrick Corbin against Zack Greinke in Game 3 on Friday night in D.C.

The Astros won the World Series in 2017. The Nationals, in D.C. since 2005, are making their first appearance. The first iteration of the Washington Senators won the World Series in 1924, but no World Series game has been played in D.C. since 1933. The Nats know this history well.

“I truly believe that these guys are fired up to be here,” manager Dave Martinez said. “We played a lot of unbelievable games this year. We’ve come a long way.”

Another quirk: The two World Series teams share a ballpark in West Palm Beach, Fla., during spring training. As if Florida wasn’t already a hot ticket in March, we can add this as further allure for future tourists.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame says this is only the second World Series matching spring stadium mates. The other was in 1942 (New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals, who bunked together in St. Petersburg, Fla.)

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