WASHINGTON -- Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa and George Springer each smacked two-run homers Sunday and the Houston Astros advanced to the brink of their second World Series title in three seasons by defeating the Washington Nationals 7-1.
Houston pitcher Gerrit Cole struck out nine and surrendered only one run on three hits over seven innings as the Astros seized a 3-2 lead in Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final.
Game six is set for Tuesday in Houston, where a seventh game would be played Wednesday if necessary.
The Astros can secure a second title in three seasons Tuesday when Justin Verlander takes the mound against Washington's Stephen Strasburg.
The Nationals must win twice in Texas, as they did in the first two games of the series, to capture the first title in the franchise's 50-year history.
It would also be the first crown for Washington since 1924, the US capital having gone 33 years without baseball after two clubs relocated.
The Astros could become only the third team in World Series history to lose the first two games at home and win the title, the first since the 1996 New York Yankees.
In sweeping three games at Washington, where no home team has won a World Series game since 1933, the Astros outscored the Nationals by a combined 19-3 after falling twice by a combined 17-7 in Houston.
Cole allowed five runs on eight hits over seven innings in a game-one loss but mystified Nationals batters Sunday, throwing 71 of his 110 pitches for strikes with only Juan Soto's solo homer in the seventh to spoil a masterclass performance.
The Nationals suffered a major setback hours before the start when scheduled starter Max Scherzer was pulled due to neck and trapezius muscle spasms, leaving 26-year-old right-hander Joe Ross to pitch on short notice.
Doctors say Scherzer might be available for Washington if the Nats can force a seventh game.
Alvarez, who went 3-for-3 at the plate, smashed a two-run homer into the centerfield stands off Ross in the second inning after Yuli Gurriel had hit an infield single.
Soto singled and took third on Howie Kendrick's single in the second but Cole struck out Ryan Zimmerman and induced a double play to end the threat.
Correa followed an Alvarez single in the fourth with a two-run homer off Ross to left field, lifting the Astros ahead 4-0.
Soto snapped a hitless streak of 5 1/3 innings for the Nationals by smashing a solo homer just over the centerfield wall in the seventh, trimming Houston's lead to 4-1.
But the Astros answered in the eighth as Springer doubled, took third on Jose Altuve's ground out and scored on a Gurriel single.
Springer blasted a two-run homer to left field in the ninth after a Martin Maldonado single to complete the scoring.
Astros relievers Joe Smith and Ryan Pressly allowed Washington only one hit after Cole's departure.
US President Donald Trump received a chorus of boos from the crowd of 43,910 when his image appeared on the stadium videoscreen just after the third inning.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES -- George Springer hammered his way to the World Series Most Valuable Player award, belting a record-equalling five home runs to fuel the Houston Astros' seven-game win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"The wildness of this series, the wackiness of this series, the emotional ups and downs, being able to play in this is something that I will never, ever forget, even if this is the only time I will ever get here," Springer said Wednesday, after smacking a two-run homer in the Astros' decisive 5-1 triumph over the Dodgers.
The 28-year-old center fielder looked an unlikely World Series hero after hitting just .115 in the Astros' seven-game victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
He struck out four times in game one against the Dodgers, and Astros manager A.J. Hinch found himself defending his decision to keep Springer at the top of his lineup.
Hinch's faith was amply rewarded as Springer smashed the two-run home run in the 11th inning that won game two for the Astros.
Springer homered again in Houston's game four defeat and in game five he atoned for a defensive miscue that saw the Dodgers take an 8-7 lead with a solo homer that tied a game the Astros would go on to win 13-12.
"I went from the lowest low to the highest high," he said of that one. "That was the craziest home run I've ever hit."
Springer's homer in game six accounted for Houston's only run in a 3-1 defeat.
And, finally, his two-run blast on Wednesday made him the first player ever to homer in four straight World Series Games.
His five home runs in the series tied the record set by New York Yankees great Reggie Jackson and later matched by Chase Utley for the Philadelphia Phillies.
"I don't know if there's a cloud higher than nine, but I'm on it," said Springer, whose 29 total bases in a World Series are a record.
"When he got going, it gets pretty scary, he can do a ton of damage," Hinch said.
Springer, for his part, was grateful for Hinch's faith.
"I will run through a wall for that guy any day," he said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES - The Houston Astros won the World Series on Wednesday on the back of a two-run home run by George Springer that busted the game open and lifted the team to a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Seven.
The Astros clinched the best-of-seven series 4-3 for the first franchise title in a 55-year existence, and did so against a Dodgers team that had Major League Baseball's best regular season record.
The Astros jumped on Dodgers starting pitcher Yu Darvish early, scoring all five runs in the first two innings before riding a long string of relief pitchers to the win at Dodger Stadium.
"I think this is the happiest moment of my life in baseball," Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said on the field after the final out.
"We did this for them," he said of the fans in Houston, who are still recovering from the deadly Hurricane Harvey in August.
"There has been a lot going on in Houston the last year (and) they are the biggest reason why we are here."
Astros manager A.J. Hinch said the team was proud of the part it played in lifting the spirits of the city.
"This team loves playing in Houston and we're going to love bringing this World Series trophy back to Houston," he said.
The signs for the Dodgers were ominous early as World Series most valuable player Springer got the Astros off to an excellent start when he laced a leadoff double to left field corner and later scored the game's first run on a throwing error by Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger.
Alex Bregman scored on a ground ball hit by Altuve that gave the Astros a 2-0 lead before the Dodgers had even came up to bat.
Darvish issued a leadoff walk to Astros catcher Brian McCann to start the second inning and scored on a soft ground ball by pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. to make it 3-0.
Springer stepped to the plate with one on and two out in the inning and blasted his fifth home run of the World Series for a 5-0 advantage, chasing Darvish, who ended an ignominious World Series after a similarly disastrous start in Game Three.
"My approach was to get something out over the plate, get something I could drive," Springer said of his two-run shot.
"And I just remember swinging and hearing the sound of the bat, and I knew it was a good sound."
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw took the mound in the third inning and threw four scoreless innings to keep his team in the game but the Los Angeles offense failed to convert hits into runs.
The National League champions were unable to capitalize on their many opportunities, stranding 10 baserunners.
The Dodgers scored their lone run in the sixth inning when pinch hitter Andre Ethier hit a ground ball that found a hole on the right side to score Joc Pederson.
"It hurts, it's suppose to hurt but there is nothing to regret when you leave all out there," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters.
"It was a long season and we stayed together, fought until the end and we came up a little short but there is nothing for us to hang our heads about," he said.
"The Astros are a great team and you have to tip your hat because they earned it."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Andrew Both)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
