The Washington Nationals became champions just like everyone predicted at the beginning of the season, right? Wrong.
The Nationals overcame +5500 odds of winning the title at the beginning of the season, tied for 15th worst in chances.
On Wednesday night, the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros 6-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. This game was winner take all, the winner becoming champions.
The starters for the important match were superstar ace Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, matching up against veteran ace Zack Greinke of the Astros.
The game started off in favor of the Astros as Yuli Gurriel hit a home run to left field in the second inning. The Astros then followed up with Carlos Correa hitting a single to score in Gurriel in the 5th inning.
Anthony Rendon, third baseman of the Nationals, started off a rally in the seventh inning, by hitting a solo home run to left field.
Then, after Juan Soto got on base, Howie Kendrick followed up with a two run shot over the right field fence. The Nationals got the runs they were looking for and went up 3-2.
The Astros looked to make a comeback but were not having any success. The Nationals went on to score another run in the eighth inning due to a Juan Soto single, scoring Adam Eaton.
It was 4-2 Nationals and Astros were down to their last six outs.Two out of the next three Astros struck out, the other grounding out to shortstop.
Nationals then scored two more runs in the last inning, making it that much harder for the Astros, their title chances getting more out of reach.
Daniel Hudson, closer of the Nationals, checked into the game and got out three of the best Astros batters, having struck out two of them. The Nationals threw their gloves in the air and celebrated. They were champions.
The Nationals did what a lot of rosters around the league need to do, build a roster around your star pitchers.
The Nationals used to try and build their team around Bryce Harper, being the superstar, but they let him go and focused more on their team like they should have been doing from the start.
The Nationals have ace pitchers in Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg but were too focused on Harper. Harper is a good player, but he’s not talented enough to win a World Series by himself.
The Nationals decided to bring a roster filled with veteran talent and players eager to win a championship. This plan turned out to work for them.
Nobody expected the Nationals to win the championship, especially losing their superstar to the Philadelphia Phillies, Bryce Harper. However, the Nationals overcame the odds and accomplished the unexpected.
