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World Series: Washington Nationals head home for Game 3 with all the momentum

By Jake Mastroianni

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 23: Juan Soto #22 and Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the Washington Nationals celebrate their 12-3 win over the Houston Astros in Game Two of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 23: Juan Soto #22 and Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the Washington Nationals celebrate their 12-3 win over the Houston Astros in Game Two of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 17: Zack  Greinke #21 of the Houston Astros delivers the pitch against the New York Yankees during the first inning in game four of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 17: Zack  Greinke #21 of the Houston Astros delivers the pitch against the New York Yankees during the first inning in game four of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Zack Greinke vs. Washington Nationals

One of the biggest moments of the regular season came moments after the July 31 trade deadline when it was announced that the Houston Astros pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Zack Greinke.

At that point, the Astros instantly became even more of a favorite to win the World Series with one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball.

The 35-year-old Greinke turned in an outstanding season posting a 2.93 ERA with the Astros and Diamondbacks over 208.2 innings pitched with 187 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.98.

Greinke goes about his business a little differently than Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander relying on command and movement within the strike zone.

Basically, he doesn’t throw as hard as the first two.

Having spent the majority of the past nine seasons in the National League, Greinke obviously has a ton of experience against the Nationals.

He actually faced them earlier this season and pitched 7.1 shutout innings only allowing 2 hits. That was in June in a game that the Arizona Diamondbacks won 5-0.

Over the previous three seasons, Greinke has faced the Washington Nationals twice and given up just 1 earned runs on 6 hits over 14.1 innings with 9 strikeouts.

Of the Nationals starters, Asdrubal Cabrera has the most experience against him with 16 hits in 37 at-bats. Howie Kendrick is 5-for-20 against Greinke and Kurt Suzuki is 7-for-24 with a home run.

Surprisingly, Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, and Trea Turner are just a combined 2-for-16 off the righty. Rendon’s one hit against him was a home run, though.

Greinke has been very good on the road this year (2.64 ERA) and he’s just as good against righties (.235) as lefties (.221).

However, Greinke has had a rough time of things in the postseason giving up 10 earned runs on 15 hits and 4 walks over 14 innings. But his strikeout totals are up with 16 in the postseason.

The Astros have only won one of his postseason starts, and he only lasted 4.1 innings in that game so he didn’t even qualify for the win.

Hopefully that trend continues for Greinke and the Nationals in Game 3.

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