The Washington Post - 24.10.2019

D10 EZ SU K T H E  W A S H I N G T O N  P O S T.T H U R S D A Y , O C T O B E R  2 4,  2 0 1 9

world series

BARRY SVRLUGA

Nats’ wild ride continues, and it’s starting to feel as if the impossible may happen

going 1-0 today — Manager Dave
Martinez’s unrelenting mantra
— means ignoring the
possibilities ahead, then at least,
with Thursday’s day off, consider
the hows and whys of the Nats’
arrival at a place where (admit
it) we’re all wondering if a return
to Texas will even be necessary.
The roots of it all were
established back in the season,
both by happenstance and with
purpose. But they have sprouted
here, over two games in which
the better, more meaningful at-
bats have been delivered by the
Nationals, not the we’ve-broken-
the-code-of-baseball Astros. In
those two games — victories by
Max Scherzer and Stephen
Strasburg over Gerrit Cole and
Justin Verlander — the gutsiest
pitches and the better defense
was turned in by Washington.
Sum it up this way: The Nats
have risen. The Astros have
shriveled.
Take two instances from
Wednesday: Tie game, bottom of
the sixth, two outs, Astros on
first and second, Strasburg on
fumes, pinch hitter Kyle Tucker
at the plate. The Astros are
masters at spitting on a pitcher’s
best pitch, at fouling off others
and forcing you to give in. On a
3-2 count with the runners on
the move, Strasburg had 113
behind him — and a brilliant one
ahead. The, um, backbone it
takes to execute the curveball
that struck Tucker out can’t be
overstated. It might be the pitch
of Strasburg’s career.
And it set up the seventh.
Forget what the Nationals did
right — led by catcher Kurt
Suzuki’s mammoth, tiebreaking
homer off Verlander — and
consider what the Astros did
wrong. Verlander walked the
next hitter, Victor Robles, his
last. Reliever Ryan Pressly
walked his first batter and later
uncorked a wild pitch. Cap it off
by Alex Bregman — the
presumed American League

SVRLUGA FROM D1

MVP who is all but melting

down here — throwing away a

ball to third, and the anatomy of

the Nats’ decisive six-run inning

was rooted as much in Houston’s

knees absolutely buckling as it

was in anything the Nats did

right.

Which fits how the Nats got

here, by playing with house

money for the past five months.

Whatever the end result of this

series and this season end up

being, the story will begin, in a

way, on May 23 with that mark

that is now seared on the brain

of every Nationals fan: 19-31.

They reached that bottom and

began the trudge back, and a

looseness developed. Whether it

was related directly to the poor

start or not, it’s undeniable. Hey,

no one expects anything of us

now, so what the bleep?

To their credit, the Nationals

have largely dismissed the “no

one believed in us” tripe

sometimes embraced by teams

that were written off. Rather,

they have wrapped themselves

more in “we believed in

ourselves,” which of course

matters more anyway.

So it’s worth reminding

yourself, as the lining of your

stomach gradually deteriorates

over the course of these games,

the unlikelihood that they’re

here at all. Not just with the 2-0

lead. But in the World Series.

The freedom with which they

played led them to 93 wins in the

regular season when that

number appeared unrealistic.

That run included eight straight

wins to close the regular season,

which means they were on a full-

on 17-2 sprint into Wednesday

night’s game, which is an

unprecedented stretch for this

franchise since baseball

returned to Washington 14 years

ago. Now it’s 18-2. What’s the

difference?

“We’ve kind of been playing

games like this for four months

or whatever,” said first baseman

Ryan Zimmerman, a version of a

line that has ping-ponged

around the Nats’ clubhouse since

the calendar flipped to October.

Pressure is what you make of

it, of course, and different

characters react in vastly

different ways. But it’s

undeniable the Los Angeles

Dodgers, winners of the previous

two National League pennants,

had more of it on them than the

Nats in the division series

between the two. Did that decide

the outcome? Not likely. Were

the Nats freed up because of it?

I’d say so.

Now here come the Astros,

World Series champions in 2017,

ALCS participants in 2018,

characters for whom no

consolation prize will do.

“I don’t believe in alleviating

the pressure,” Houston Manager

A.J. Hinch said before Game 2.

“You have to know it’s there. It’s

going to be there regardless. You

can’t fake it. You can’t pretend it.

You embrace it. You deal with it.

You have to be comfortable with

it.

“So rather than try to pretend

like it doesn’t exist, you have to

figure out a way to use it to your

advantage and use it as

motivation.”

Within all that are some great

notions, and Hinch would seem

adept at delivering that message,

in bits and pieces, to his charges.

But you know what? Martinez

doesn’t even have to bother. Go

1-0 today? That was true May 24.

It was true Oct. 23.

There are, as we enter the

final week of the season, new

wrinkles for the Nats, too. Since

he endured chest pains in the

dugout and ended up in an

ambulance to the hospital on

Sept. 15, Martinez has been

prevented from ingesting

caffeine. He used to be hyper.

Now, how can he help but be

calm?

“The guys in the dugout

always come up to me and they

put their hand on my heart to

see what’s wrong,” Martinez said.

“And I have to tell them all the

time, ‘Hey, I’m fine.’”

Which is how the Nationals

are right now. Just fine. More

than fine. Washington’s last

World Series title, in 1924, is

preserved on grainy black-and-

white film. Close your eyes and

envision the HD version this

team is filming. Enjoy the

weekend. What a world.

barry.svrluga@washpost.com

For more by Barry Svrluga, visit

washingtonpost.com/svrluga.

TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg pitched with confidence for six innings, ultimately outdueling Astros starter Justin Verlander.

JONATHAN NEWTON /THE WASHINGTON POST

Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton slides home to score the first run on Anthony Rendon’s two-run double in the first inning. Washington piled on in the final innings to take a commanding series lead back to D.C.

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He beat leukemia.

But then things got really bad... wapo.st/medicalmysteries

Read “Medical Mysteries,” Tuesdays in Health & Science.