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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2019)
7A Wednesday, October 30, 2019 The Observer Washington forces Game 7 By Ronald Blum The Associated Press HOUSTON — It’s been an unconventional road to Game 7 of the World Series for Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals. Seizing the October spot- light he missed out on as a youngster, Strasburg pitched another postseason gem into the ninth inning Tuesday night as the Nationals beat the Houston Astros 7-2 to tie this Fall Classic at 3-3. Juan Soto ran all the way to fi rst base with his bat fol- lowing a go-ahead homer, the same way Houston slugger Alex Bregman did earlier. Yep, these wild-card Nationals have matched the heavily favored Astros swing for swing, hit for hit — even home run celebration for home run celebration. Now, it’s onto a winner- take-all Game 7 on Wednes- day night to decide the only Series in which the visiting team won the fi rst six. “It’s weird, really. You can’t explain it,” Washington man- ager Dave Martinez said. Adam Eaton and Soto hit solo homers off Justin Verlander in the fi fth to help the Nationals overcome a 2-1 defi cit. Anthony Rendon also went deep and drove in fi ve runs. “Maybe they enjoy our park and maybe we enjoy their park,” said Rendon, who attended high school 4½ miles from Minute Maid Park. “We’re not going to ask questions.” Max Scherzer, revitalized by an injection of painkiller, is primed to return from an irritated nerve in his neck to start Game 7 for Washington in a Series that’s been all road, sweet, road. Scratched from his scheduled Game 5 start only hours before the fi rst pitch, Scherzer was warming up in the seventh inning Tuesday before Rendon’s homer, then sat down as Martinez became the fi rst manager tossed from a Series game since Atlanta’s Bobby Cox in 1996. “The cortisone shot worked. That relieved the pressure on the nerve, and then keep applying heat,” Scherzer said. “Our chiro- practor, he does amazing work. He was able to go in there and make adjust- ments. We did two treat- ments of it and really freed up the neck.” Zack Greinke will start for the Astros, who led the majors with 107 wins and are seeking their second title in three seasons. “I wish it was in a Na- tional League park,” Greinke joked, cracking a smile about his affi nity for hitting. Fired up after a dis- puted call at fi rst base went against them in the seventh, the Nationals padded their lead moments later when Rendon hit a two-run homer 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 fi ve-hit ball for 8-1/3 innings. Washington pitching coach Paul Menhart Matt Slocum/The Associated Press Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg reacts after Houston Astros’ Michael Brantley grounded out to end the fi fth inning of Game 6 of the baseball World Series on Tuesday in Houston. told Strasburg after the fi rst that he was tipping pitches. Strasburg allowed only three more hits. “Started shaking my glove, so they didn’t know what I was throwing,” Strasburg said. “It’s something that has burned me in the past, and it burned me there in the fi rst.” Now the Nationals will attempt their ultimate come- back in a year when they were written off time after time, hoping for the fi rst title in the 51-season history of a franchise that started as the Montreal Expos and the fi rst for Washington since the Senators in 1924. Visiting teams have won three straight Game 7s in the Series since the Cardi- nals defeated Texas at home in 2011. “I don’t think there’s a person in the building that would have assumed that all road teams were going to win,” Houston manager AJ Hinch said. “We’ve just got to make sure that last one is not the same.” Washington rebounded from a 19-31 start — the Nats were given just a 1.6% chance to win the Series on May 23 — to fi nish 93-69. They rallied from a 3-1 eighth-inning defi cit against Milwaukee in the NL wild-card game, a two- games-to-one defi cit vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series and a 2-1, fi fth-inning defi cit in Game 6 vs. the Astros. Outscored 19-3 at Nation- als Park while going 1 for 21 with runners in scoring posi- tion, the Nationals got the strong outing they needed from Strasburg, who allowed his only runs in the fi rst inning, struck out seven and walked two while throwing 104 pitches. “It was a mental grind out there, especially after the fi rst,” Strasburg said. “Just got to keep fi ghting.” Strasburg was memorably shut down by the Nation- als in September 2012 to protect his arm in his fi rst full season following Tommy John surgery, and Washing- ton was beaten by St. Louis in the Division Series. He improved to 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in six postseason outings this October — fi ve starts and one relief appear- ance — despite failing to get a swing and miss in the fi rst two innings for the fi rst time this year. Eight of his nine swings and misses overall came on breaking balls, and Strasburg escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the fourth by striking out Carlos Correa. After George Springer’s one-out double put runners at second and third in the fi fth, José Altuve struck out on a curve in the dirt and Michael Brantley hit a hard grounder to second. “He has an uncanny abil- ity to slow the game down when he’s under any duress,” Hinch said about Strasburg. Sean Doolittle got the fi nal two outs as the Nationals bullpen headed into Game 7 relatively rested. Verlander dropped to 0-6 with a 5.68 ERA in seven Series starts, a blemish on his otherwise sterling career. “I didn’t really have great feel for the off-speed stuff,” he said. “The last inning just FOOTBALL CONTEST WINNERS! Week 8 1 st - LYLE JENSEN, LA GRANDE (2 misses, Closest tiebreaker) 2 - TERESA ENGLISH, ISLAND CITY (2 misses, 2nd closest) ND 3 RD - RICH VAUGHAN, ISLAND CITY (2 misses, 3rd closest) Congratulations! From The Observer. a poorly executed slider and then really just kind of a fastball up and in.” Martinez’s ejection came after Trea Turner was called out for interference when he ran on the fair side of the foul line and knocked the mitt off fi rst baseman Yuli Gurriel in the seventh following his slow roller. Washington was leading 3-2 at the time and would have had runners on second and third with no outs. Martinez tried to protest the game. Joe Torre, MLB’s chief baseball offi cer, said the long delay that followed — just over 10 minutes — was caused by umpires at Minute Maid Park consulting with the replay room in New York to confi rm the decision on the fi eld was not subject to a protest. LOCAL SCHEDULE Friday COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL • Southern Oregon at Eastern Oregon, 7 p.m. MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL • Eastern Oregon at Montana Tech, 6 p.m. PREP FOOTBALL Special District 3 Football playoffs at Eastern Oregon University • Powder Valley vs. Enterprise, 10 a.m. • Crane vs. Union, 1 p.m. • Elgin vs. Dufur, 4 p.m. • Adrian/Jordan Valley vs. Pilot Rock/ Nixyaawii, 7:30 p.m. PREP CROSS COUNTRY • La Grande at Greater Oregon League district meet, Baker City, 1 p.m. • Union/Cove, Elgin at 2A/1A Boys Special District 3 meet, Pendleton, 3 p.m. • Union/Cove, Elgin, Wallowa County at 3A/2A/1A Girls Special District 3 meet, Pendleton, 3:30 p.m. • Wallowa County at 3A Boys Special District 3 meet, Pendleton, 4:15 p.m. PREP SOCCER Madras at La Grande, Class 4A state play- in, La Grande Middle School, 2 p.m. — Subject to change TREASURE VALLEY STEEL, INC. 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