They beat Verlander AND Cole in our house. I'd feel pretty confident going into a game knowing that. It's going to be a good game.
There is no Guarantee that the Astros win tonight. The Nats have confidence because they won Games 1 and 2 at MMP. Astros need to jump on them EARLY and take the fight out of them like the did in D.C.. Put the boot on the Nats' neck early and CHOKE THEM OUT (Irony intended).
Well if it makes everyone feel better, the Astros did win Game 2 of the World Series in 2017. It's just that Verlander wasn't the winning pitcher.
However this is Verlander and Cole we are talking about. 2 of the top 5 pitchers in the league. They are smart, you don't think they will adjust and learn from the first game and ultimately dcik the Walgreen Nationals?
The "confidence" angle is so overplayed. Both of these teams are in the World Series for a reason... because they are really good. It comes down to execution on the pitching side and winning ABs from the bats. That's who will win the game, not whichever team is more confident.
How many of those games did the Nats face elimination? In case you've not seen the last 3 games- imo it proves that the first two games were flukes. Especially game one. I think it's obvious that those two losses woke our asses up. It ends tonight. Book it.
The Nats are certainly capable of winning two in a row. Still the Astros have momentum, are at home and confident. Let's wrap up the series in 6 and we can all debate who should be the WS MVP. I have to say I am personally rooting for Yordan Alvarez to hit a couple homers and walk away with the WS MVP. It would be the best way to end a wild post season.
I think you can argue that. I don't know that the Astros were all that confident going into the Nationals series though....... I know we had just eliminated NY but the bats were in an all time historic slump with runners in scoring position. It is a good point though. If we get 2-3 runs early, we could see a real effect on the field...... reminds me of the inning where the Yankees fell apart defensively against the Astros, and then the Astros fell apart against the Nationals.
I'm sure they will. But the fact remains they beat, pretty handily, the 2 best pitchers in the AL in 2 consecutive games on the road. I have all the confidence in the world in JV and the bats to not do what they were doing in those games. But I think it's shortsighted to say that the Nats shouldn't have confidence. I don't think they were flukes. They're a very good team. But, we're an all-time great team. I can't imagine them being able to win 2 in a row again but I see no reason for them not to feel at least a little good about themselves.
They weren't that good and we weren't that bad the first two games. Make no mistake - the cards spoiled them. The Nats were coming back to Washington to sweep the Astros. Very good teams don't lose 3 home games in a row in the WS. They are a good team that got very hot and have cooled off. I admit that my over confidence may be silly in retrospect if we lose tonight. But I just have a feeling it ends tonight. I'm also trying to speak it into existence.
Meaningless but fun fact. If we win, we will be only the 5th expansion era team to have won multiple WS, and will surprisingly actually tie us with the other four at 2. With 3 pennants we are now 3rd among that group, and its not a small one (14 teams) I didn't realize the younger franchises have struggled so much. I get that it takes some time to build up your base, but it still seems crazy lopsided. Either way, this will be only the 12th WS for an expansion team, over half of which started way back in the 60's.
