Table of Content
Adam Eaton batted in a run in the top of the fifth inning, followed two batters later by a Soto two-run double, giving the Nationals a 5–2 lead. For the first time in any of the major North American sports leagues, the visiting team won all the games of a seven-game championship series, surpassing the previous high of five. It was the sixth straight World Series in which the championship was clinched by the visiting team. In Game 3 of the NLDS, Soto hit his first career postseason home run off Hyun-jin Ryu. In in the decisive Game 5 of the NLDS, Soto hit an RBI single in the 6th inning off of Walker Buehler and later hit a game-tying home run in the top of the 8th off Clayton Kershaw.
It was the first World Series in which the Houston Astros had home-field advantage. The series was played in a 2–3–2 format, with the Astros hosting Games 1, 2, 6, and 7; and the Nationals hosting Games 3, 4, and 5. Following the season, Soto was named to the All-MLB First Team and won the National League Silver Slugger Award for the outfield, receiving both honors for the second straight season. Soto was the runner up in National League Most Valuable Player Award voting, losing out to Bryce Harper. Soto became the sixth player in MLB history to finish as runner-up in both MVP and Rookie of the Year voting.
National League
Game 6 of the World Series had an unusually heavy focus on the written rules, with an interference call that sparked controversy and halted play for several minutes in the seventh inning. Before that, however, there was a similarly intense spotlight on their unwritten brethren. Zimmerman’s blast was a fitting way for Washington to open its first-ever World Series game. After the franchise moved to Washington in 2005, Zimmerman was the first player they officially drafted. The Washington Nationals did something during their 5-4 victory in Game 1 of the World Series that no other team had done during the postseason.
That made the Nationals the second team in World Series history to receive at least one home run from a player 20 years or younger and one from a player 35 or older in the Fall Classic. The only other occurrence happened when Mantle and Johnny Mize both homered for the Yankees in the 1952 World Series. Soto and Zimmerman had the third-largest age gap between two players homering in the same World Series game, behind only David Ross and Javier Báez in Game 7 in 2016 and Eddie Murray and Javy Lopez in Game 2 in 1995.
Nationals hitting coach predicted Soto’s home run
The 20-year-old star from the Dominican Republic whose birthday is Friday, the same day as Game 3, hit a solo 417-foot homer to left center in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. And in the fifth after right fielder Adam Eaton sent the go-ahead run home, Soto hit a double, again to the opposite field, for two more runs on Washington’s way to a 5-4 victory at Minute Maid Park in Houston. In the fifth inning, Soto delivered a two-run double off Cole to deep left field to put Washington ahead 5-2. He finished the game 3-for-4, and his 3 RBIs lifted the Nationals to a 5-4 win over the Astros and a 1-0 lead in the series. Cole got the ball in Game 1, pitting him against Max Scherzer in a matchup of two perennial aces. Even though Scherzer was the one with a Hall of Fame-caliber resume, Cole was the hottest pitcher in baseball after winning 19 straight decisions dating back to late-May.
It was just about as tough an assignment Nationals hitters could’ve asked for to open the series. HOUSTON -- Few hitters, especially those who bat left-handed, are capable of hitting balls onto the train tracks sitting above the left-field wall at Minute Maid Park. Since Statcast began tracking in 2015, no left-handed hitter had launched a ball 417 feet to the opposite field in this ballpark.
Game summaries
Sean Doolittle, the Nationals' fifth pitcher of the game, got the final out of the eighth inning and retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, concluding matters when Carlos Correa lined out to Víctor Robles to preserve the win. Doolittle earned his second save of the postseason and the underdogs took the series lead, marking the first time in franchise history that the Nationals won a World Series game. Verlander exited after five innings, having allowed three runs on five hits while striking out three batters. In the top of the seventh inning, Trea Turner was controversially called out for interference on a play at first base, which Washington manager Dave Martinez furiously took issue with, leading to his ejection. Later that inning, a two-out, two-run home run by Rendon off Will Harris—who had not allowed an earned run in the postseason—increased Washington's lead to 5–2.
On the evening the Nationals began their turnaround from a start, Soto played his part. Trailing Miami, 9-8, in the eighth inning with runners on first and second, Soto lifted a 100.1 mph fastball from Guerrero 399 feet into left-center at 103 mph. The game-winning home run helped put the Nats on the comeback trail that led them to their first World Series title.
In a series at Citi Field against the division-rival New York Mets, Soto first hit a home run 463 feet on August 10, the longest of his career, then another home run measured at 466 feet on August 12 to set a new personal best. He was named National League Player of the Week on August 17, his first such honor. The next inning, he hit a two-RBI double off Cole that once again went opposite field. It nearly got out, but he had to settle for a two-bagger off the wall that put Washington up 5-2. Players at the academy at the time of Soto’s first big-league homer in May 2018 had a similarly spectacular reaction to the then-19 year old’s bomb.
MLB Scores Yesterday's MLB Games, Scores from any date in Major League history, MLB Probable Pitchers, Baseball-Reference Stream Finder, ... Soto signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2018 and was the runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. In 2019, he was a key part of the Nationals' first World Series championship. In 2020, he won the National League batting title with a .351 average.
Overall in 2022, combined with both teams, Soto played 152 total games with a .244 batting average, 27 home runs, 62 RBI, and an MLB-leading 135 walks. He walked in 20.3% of his plate appearances, tops in the major leagues, and had the highest BB/K% in the majors, at 1.41. He swung at a lower percentage of pitches outside the strike zone (19.9%) than any other major league batter. The Nationals, however, quickly lost many players from their championship team and fell to the bottom of the league.
Fox Deportes aired the series in Spanish, with Rolando Nichols calling the play-by-play, Edgar Gonzalez as color commentator, and Carlos Álvarez as field reporter. On July 23, 2020, just before the opening game of a shortened 2020 season, it was announced that Soto had tested positive for COVID-19. And Nats hitting coach Kevin Long appears to have predicted the whole thing. On the FOX broadcast during the game, reporter Tom Verducci said Long told him before the game that Soto would hit a homer off a high fastball from Cole.
This was the first instance in MLB, NBA, or NHL history where the road team won the first six games of a best-of-seven series. With a pair of home runs against the Yankees on June 13, 2018, the teenage Soto became the fifth-youngest player in Major League history to hit at least two in a single game. He first struck in the fourth inning with a three-run, 338-foot shot to left field at 103.1 mph off Gray’s 95.5 mph fastball. With the game tied in the seventh, Soto hit a 436-foot, go-ahead solo home run to give the Nationals a 5-4 lead they wouldn't relinquish. His shot to right-center off Shreve's 91.6 mph fastball left Yankee Stadium at 111.2 mph.
No comments:
Post a Comment