Nats lead Astros 2-0 as World Series finally returns to DC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Walking off the field after the final out, Juan Soto smiled as he approached manager Dave Martinez and held up a pair of fingers.
“Two more,” Soto told his skipper.
By then, Minute Maid Park was nearly empty and mostly silent, except for a small clutch of fans behind Washington’s dugout.
Suffice to say, it will look and sound a lot different Friday night at Nationals Park.
Halfway to a World Series championship in a city that hasn’t claimed the crown since 1924, Washington has watched everything go its way in taking a 2-0 lead over the discombobulated Houston Astros, who were heavily favored at the
start.
Not that anyone expected exactly this.
Those taut, tense pitching duels that were set with aces Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Stephen Strasburg on the mound? Nope. “Just about when we all predict what this is supposed to be about, the game will show you that you know maybe a little bit less and less the more you’re around it,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said.
Instead, the biggest star so far is a hitter — Soto, still in his first full season and already with a knack for clutch knocks.
It was Soto’s eighthinning hit that rallied the Nationals past Milwaukee in the NL wild-card game. He then hit a tying home run off Clayton Kershaw in the eighth during the deciding Game 5 of the Division Series.
Soto was just getting warmed up, apparently.
He’s 4 for 7 with a homer and two doubles in the World Series, driving in three runs and scoring three and also stealing a base. And those shakes and shimmies he does at the plate, no wonder it’s called the Soto Shuffle.
And how’s this for timing — his 21st birthday is Friday, when An√≠bal S√°nchez is scheduled to start for the Nationals against Zack Greinke. It will be the first World Series game in Washington since 1933 with the Senators.
Just imagine the party Soto’s adoring crowd will throw at pumped-up Nationals Park.
“It’s going to feel amazing,” he said. “I can’t wait for it to happen.”
The teams were off Thursday, and a few players on both sides worked out on the field.
There were a couple of developments, however:
— Houston fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman for directing inappropriate comments at female reporters during a clubhouse celebration. Sports Illustrated said Taubman repeatedly yelled at them about closer Roberto Osuna, who was suspended for 75 games last year for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow also apologized for the team’s initial response, which was to accuse a SI reporter of making up the story.