History is not on Nats’ side heading into World Series

A sweep is good, but teams with long layoffs haven’t fared well, columnist Bob Nightengale says.

HOUSTON – The Nationals had workouts throughout the past week.

They played a simulated game Sunday night before their flight from Washington to Houston.

And, man, did they have plenty of rest.

Lots and lots of rest. The trouble with the Nationals winning the NL pennant over the Cardinals is that they did it much too fast, a fourgame sweep in the NL Championship Series. They haven’t played a game since Oct. 15.

At 8: 09 p. m. ET Tuesday at Minute Maid Park, they’ll be playing Game 1 of the World Series against the Astros.

“It’s a concern,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “How can it not be?”

History will tell you that teams with a layoff of six or more days are doomed in the World Series.

The landscape is full of teams that simply melted down in the World Series after a lengthy layoff.

Just ask former Tigers manager Jim Leyland, whose teams twice swept the ALCS and disappeared each time in the World Series.

Detroit swept the Athletics in 2006, had six days off, came into the World Series as heavy favorite over the Cardinals, and lost in five games. The Tigers swept the Yankees in 2012, had five days off, came into the World Series as favorites over the Giants, and were swept.

Now, here comes the Nats, who will be facing Astros coace Gerrit Cole on Tuesday, a pitcher who has not lost a game since May 22, going 19- 0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last 25 starts.

Talk about a jarring wake- up call.

“I think the biggest thing is the hitting,” Leyland told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s just so hard to simulate the speed of the game. The layoff is much worse for the hitters than the pitchers. The pitchers can at least simulate, and can throw wherever they are, but the hitters really can’t do that.”

Those Tigers’ teams are living proof. In 2006, they batted .199 with a .246 on- base percentage and .335 slugging percentage. Why, if not for Sean Casey, who went 9- for- 18 with two homers, the Tigers would have hit .160. The heart of their order – Curtis Granderson, Craig Monroe, Magglio Ordonez, Pudge Rodriguez and Placido Polanco – hit .127.

Justin Verlander, who’ll start Game 2 for the Astros, remembers it all too vividly. “We just won too quickly. That time off killed us,” he said. “I mean, we had the talent, but when it comes to the playoffs, it’s the hottest team at the time. And those layoffs cooled us off. It sucked. It’s the one sport where time off hurt you because you get completely thrown off your routine.”

The Tigers, who worked out at Ford Field because of the cold temperatures in 2006, changed it up in 2012. They brought in players from their instructional league to play simulated games outdoors at Comerica Field, hoping to resemble the real thing.

The Tigers barely showed up against the Giants, hitting .159 with a .243 onbase percentage and .248 slugging percentage. They scored just six runs and had five extra- base hits the entire series. The slugging duo of Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera hit .148 ( 4- for- 27), with one homer and eight strikeouts.

The star- studded rotation led by Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, Verlander and ERA leader Anibal Sanchez couldn’t save them.

“You just lose your edge sitting around for a week,” Leyland says, “and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s not just the players, but the whole organization, the fan base, everyone is sitting around and loses their edge. It’s a mental layoff, as much as anything. Maybe it’s because we weren’t expecting to be there in the first place, I don’t know, but it cost us.”

The Nationals weren’t supposed to be here either, having a dramatic comeback victory in the wild- card game against the Brewers, upsetting the heavily favored Dodgers in five games in the division series, then sweeping the Cardinals. By the time they return to Washington, D. C., to play their first World Series game in front of their hometown fans, they will have gone 10 days without seeing them.

“You’re used to playing every day for six months,” Leyland said, “and suddenly, you’ve got a week off.

“Maybe it’ll be different for those guys and they’ll do a better job with it.” History tells us it will be no different. The Cardinals just had one day off in 2006 before stunning the Tigers.

The Giants also had just a day off before the start of the 2012 World Series.

The Astros are coming in with two days off, allowing them to perfectly line up their rotation with Cole, Verlander and Zack Greinke.

“To have Cole on full rest going Game 1, and Verlander on full rest Game 2,” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said, “that’s exactly what we were looking for.”

The last team to win with at least six off days were the Phillies in 2008, who were off four more days than the Rays, before winning in five games.

The White Sox had five off days in 2005 and swept the Astros.

The longest layoff belonged to the Rockies, who were off eight days in 2007, six longer than the Red Sox, lost Game 1 13- 1, and were swept.

“Hey, we’ve got the oldest team in baseball,” Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki said last week. “We need the days off.” And for the Astros?

“To be honest, if we could have won it in four, we’d have loved to,” Astros MVP candidate Alex Bregman said. “But this worked out well for us. We still got a little rest, and we’re ready. The trouble with getting too many days off is that it ruins your routine.

“We’re on a roll. We’re ready.”

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES Max Scherzer of the Nationals and Gerrit Cole of the Astros are the projected starting pitchers in Game 1.

GEOFF BURKE/ USA TODAY SPORTS Since hoisting the National League championship trophy, the Nationals and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman haven’t played since Oct. 15.