NATS-STROS
tros sent 10 batters to the plate and battered the bullpen. Bregman, who began the night in a 1-for-13 Series slide, had the big blow, driving a low, inside fastball from Fernando Rodney into the left field stands of the ballpark where he was the All-Star Game MVP in 2018. He held his bat high as he slowly walked out of the batter’s box, then took nearly 30 seconds to circle the bases.
“Was just trying to hit the ball in the air and drive in a run, and ended up driving in four,” Bregman said.
Orange-clad Houston fans in the right field upper deck chanted “Let’s go Astros!” as Nationals fans were silenced. Wild-card Washington lost consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 13-14 against Atlanta.
Starting pitchers were the talk of the Series coming in, with Washington’s Stephen Strasburg, Scherzer and Corbin combining for 12 All-Star selections and three Cy Young Awards. The baseball cards of Houston’s Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke shine with 17 All-Star picks, two Cy Youngs and one MVP.
But there were just five 1-2-3 innings by starters in the first three games, and the most consecutive outs were by the Nationals’ Aníbal Sánchez, who retired seven straight in Game 3.
Urquidy, a right-hander, them all. Not bad for a TBA. Urquidy wasn’t even announced as Houston’s starter until after Game 3, with manager AJ Hinch hoping to piece together innings any way he could.
The right-hander began the season at Double-A Corpus Christi, was bumped up to Triple-A Round Rock in mid-May and made his major league debut in July. He faced the Nationals in just his 12th big league appearance, joining Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Jaime García (2011) as the only Mexican starting pitchers in Series history.
Urquidy allowed two hits in five scoreless innings, striking out four and walking none. Mixing four-seam fastballs in the mid-90s (mph) with twoseamers, sliders, curves and changeups, he set down the Nationals in order in the second, fourth and fifth, retiring his final nine batters. He threw 30 of his first 38 pitches for strikes, 45 of 67 overall.
Josh James, Will Harris, Héctor Rondón, Brad Peacock and Chris Devenski combined for two-hit relief.
Washington’s best chance to get back into the game came in the sixth, when Harris relieved with two on and one out. Anthony Rendon singled off the pitcher’s leg, loading the bases, and Juan Soto drove in a run with a groundout. Harris then struck out Howie Kendrick. After going
24-year-old exceeded
7 for 21 with runners in scoring position in the first two games, the Nationals are 1 for 19 in the last two.
Houston flipped for the positive, going 9 for 23 with RISP after starting 3 for 17 in the two losses. The Astros burst ahead with timely hitting for the second straight night, getting consecutive one-out singles by José Altuve, Michael Brantley, Bregman and Gurriel.
Brantley had three hits, raising his Series average to .471 (8 for 17). Bregman also finished with three hits.
Chirinos, who homered off the screen on the left field foul pole to drive in Houston’s final run in Game 3, sent a flat changeup from Corbin deep into the left field seats, then slapped his chest and grinned as he skipped across home plate. The catcher doubled in the ninth and is 4 for 11 against the Nationals.
Signed to a $140 million, six-year contract as a free agent last offseason, Corbin dropped to 1-3 in three postseason starts and four relief appearances. He actually lowered his ERA to 6.64.
ROAD WARRIORS
Going back to Boston’s wins in Games 4 and 5 at Dodger Stadium last year, visiting teams won have won six straight in the World Series for the first time since the Yankees at Brooklyn and Philadelphia in 1949 and ‘50 . ... Road teams also won the first four games in 1906, 1923 and 1986.
PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 30 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 20 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-122 for their first win in the series in more than three years.
Phoenix (2-1) snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Clippers and won for the first time since losing starting center Deandre Ayton to a 25-game suspension after he tested positive for a diuretic.
The Suns had a 15-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before Los Angeles’ Lou Williams made things interesting with backto-back 3-pointers.
The Clippers pulled within six on Kawhi Leonard’s 3-pointer with less than two minutes left, but the Suns’
Tyler Johnson responded with his own 3-pointer to stop the rally.
The two teams were tied at 55 at halftime, but the Suns pushed to a 91-85 lead after three quarters largely thanks to the unlikely combo of Frank Kaminsky and Jevon Carter, who combined for 17 points during the rally.
Carter started in the absence of Ricky Rubio, who missed the game because of a knee injury suffered on Friday against Denver. The second-year pro finished with eight points and six assists in 33 minutes.
Kaminsky finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. It was an impressive bounce-back win for the Suns, who lost to the Nuggets by one point in overtime on Friday.
Los Angeles (2-1) was led by Montrezl Harrell’s 28 points. Leonard added 27 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists.
Phoenix controlled most of the first half, but settled for the halftime tie after the Clippers closed the second quarter on a 6-0 run.
UCLA 42, No. 24 ASU 32