Houston Astros
In yet another twist in this series, the home side failed to win for the 6th time in a row. Houston were thoroughly outclassed in a 7-2 defeat, with a glaring lack of offensive production. Alex Bregman looked solid with 2 hits and an RBI, but his teammates couldn’t follow suit with Strasburg’s strong pitching. Justin Verlander was somewhat poor in his start, striking out just 3 and allowing 3 runs in his 5 innings. Zack Greinke is slated to pitch here, coming off an excellent regular season but an inconsistent post-season.
Washington Nationals
A gutsy 7-2 road win in game 6 means Washington are still well and truly in this series. Anthony Rendon should take a bow after his performance, putting this team on his back with 3 hits and 5 RBI. Stephen Strasburg was excellent as a starting pitcher, going just over 8 innings and striking out 7. Despite being unfit to start game 5, Max Scherzer is going to give it a go as the starting pitcher here. He’s been excellent when called upon all year, but I’d definitely be concerned about his injury.
Prediction: Astros $1.70
I’ve backed both sides at times during this series, although I’ve never wavered from the thought that Houston would win it all. I think they’ve got the more talented roster and a very strong home field advantage. Although their lineup has been somewhat inconsistent of late, they’ve got so many clutch big hitters that should thrive in the game 7 crucible. Greinke’s also had a storied career to date and you’d struggle to find many better options than him with your season on the line. Given that he was unfit to start literally 2 days ago, I’m also unsure how effective Scherzer will be here. If he can only go a few innings, Washington will be heavily reliant on a bullpen that has done a ton of work over the post-season. Overall, I think Houston has the talent edge, health edge, and home field advantage to get them over the line and win the World Series tonight.