The Washington Post - 24.10.2019

and in swift fashion, after Stephen Stras-

burg kept them floating in a tight game. He

gave up two runs in six innings of hand-

dirtying work. He was rewarded once the

bats exploded in the seventh. The rally

began when Kurt Suzuki rocketed a Ver-

lander fastball out to left. It only finished

when the Nationals had marched into

Houston and left little doubt.

Fifty-five teams have taken a 2-0 advan-

tage in the World Series. Forty-four have

won it all.

Verlander was first tasked with slowing

a team that’s now won eight games in a row,

SEE NATIONALS ON D12

BY JESSE DOUGHERTY

houston — By the end of the seventh

inning Wednesday night, by the time they’d

batted around, bullied the Houston Astros

and brought themselves within two wins of

a title — with five more chances to get them

— the Washington Nationals could take

just a second to look around and breathe.

They were the enemies in a stadium that

was slowly emptying out. Enemies with big

grins and even bigger reasons to bet on

themselves. That’s what happens when you

beat the home team, 12-3, in Game 2 of the

World Series. That’s what happens when

you carry a 2-0 lead onto a plane back to

Washington. That’s what happens when

you stage a six-run seventh inning that

starts against their star pitcher, Justin

Verlander, and ends with you capitalizing

on every last mistake.

That’s what the Nationals did at Minute

Maid Park. They dismembered the Astros,

houston — The

Washington Nationals had

just smeared six stunning

runs all over the faces of

the Houston Astros in the

seventh inning of Game 2

of the World Series, seizing

a 2-0 lead with the next

three games at Nationals

Park.

When you win the first two games of a

best-of-seven seven-game series in the

other team’s park, history says you have

about an 88 percent of finishing the job.

Since postseason play began in 1903, the

sereis record of teams in the Nationals

position is 22-3.

The final score of Game 2 — 12-3 — is

not the only thing that bodes so well for

the Nationals. It was the work of Stephen

Strasburg, who got the win and

outdueled future Hall-of-Famer Justin

Verlander that defined this game.

Strasburg shook off a two-run homer

by Houston’s Alex Bregman in the first

SEE BOSWELL ON D11

houston — There is time

now to digest what just

happened here, over two

unfathomable nights at

Minute Maid Park, and

how it could set up an

unprecedented weekend in

Washington. Let the

thoughts creep into your

craniums and rattle around. They’re

dizzying. When’s first pitch Friday night?

The Washington Nationals have a 2-0

lead in the World Series. If it’s typed

again, will it seem more realistic? The

Houston Astros are better, deeper, more

versatile, more seasoned, more hardened,

blah blah blah. For two games over two

nights here — including Wednesday

night’s 12-3 Nats victory in Game 2 —

they stood no chance.

Don’t just consider what that means.

Embrace it. Win two of three games over

the Astros in a weekend set at Nationals

Park, and the Nats would be...

All right, all right. Walk it back a bit. If

SEE SVRLUGA ON D10

WORLD SERIES | GAME 2

Nats erupt with six-run seventh,

take 2-0 lead over Astros

Strasburg stands tall

when it matters most

Thomas

Boswell

Improbable rally helps

this team defy the odds

Barry

Svrluga

Game 3: Astros at Nationals

Tomorrow, 8:07 p.m., Fox (Nats lead, 2-0)

STARTER W-L ERA WHIP K/9

Greinke 0-2 6.43 1.43 10.3

Sánchez 1-0 0.71 0.63 9.9

2019 postseason stats

JOHN FEINSTEIN

Matt Campbell has found a

home at Iowa State and has

the Cyclones in top 25. D3

HOCKEY

John Carlson’s hot start has

the Capitals waging a Norris

Trophy campaign for him. D3

ON THE WEB

Last night’s Wizards season

opener ended late. Visit us

online: WASHINGTONPOST.COM.

BY ADAM KILGORE

As he reviewed his career this
offseason in search of areas to
improve, one play inspired Kirk
Cousins’s curiosity. He recalled a
quarterback sneak that had keyed
a Washington Redskins victory
over the Green Bay Packers. If a
sneak had been that important, he
figured, he wanted to ensure he
could convert another if needed.
He asked members of the Minne-
sota Vikings’ analytics staff to tell

him his success rate on quarter-

back sneaks.

“Then I said after that conversa-

tion, ‘Hey, this is good stuff,’ ”

Cousins said. “ ‘If ever you have

information that arises, please

send it my way. Don’t be a stranger.

I might not be smart enough to ask

the question, but can you come to

me?’ ”

Shortly thereafter, a Vikings an-

alytics staffer provided Cousins

information that helps explain an

overlooked NFL trend. He showed

Cousins his passing statistics with

and without play-action. On

straight dropbacks, Cousins’s

numbers resembled those of a

mid-tier NFL starter. When he

faked a running play before

throwing, Cousins looked like a

superstar on paper.

Cousins, whose recent hot

streak has helped make the Vi-

kings a playoff contender, is an

extreme example of the difference

between using play-action and

not, but he is also representative.

Almost uniformly, NFL quarter-

backs succeed at a higher rate

when they use play-action fakes

than when they don’t. It’s clear

that coaches and players are

catching on, and given the in-

creased use of data within the

sport, we may only be seeing the

start of an information-fueled

play-action boom.

The value of play-action is easy

to understand. A team can either

disguise its intentions or not. And

SEE COUSINS ON D5

Vikings’ Cousins reaping benefits of NFL’s play-action boom

KLMNO

SPORTS

T H U R S D A Y ,  O C T O B E R  2 4,  2 0 1 9  .  S E C T I O N  D SU K

TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST

NATIONALS 12, ASTROS 3: Things are pointing in the right direction after Adam Eaton, left, brings home Victor Robles with a home run in the eighth inning. Washington took the first two games in Houston.

Halfway home

Redskins at Vikings

Today, 8:20 p.m., Fox, NFLN

‘I helped build that stadium’:

Adrian Peterson readies for

Minnesota homecoming. D4