Nats lead Astros 2-0 as World Series finally returns to DC

Washington Nationals left fielder Juan Soto celebrates after ir win against Houston Astros in Game 2 of baseball World Series Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. Nationals won 12-3 to take a 2-0 lead in series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Nationals left fielder Juan Soto celebrates after ir win against Houston Astros in Game 2 of baseball World Series Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. Nationals won 12-3 to take a 2-0 lead in series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Walking off field after final out, Juan Soto smiled as he approached manr Dave Martinez and held up a pair of fingers.

“Two more,” Soto told his skipper.

By n, 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 crown since 1924, Washington has watched everything go its way in taking a 2-0 lead over discombobulated Houston Astros, who were heavily favored at start.

t 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 mound?

pe.

“Just about when we all predict what this is supposed to be about, game will show you that you kw maybe a little bit less and less more you’re around it,” Astros manr AJ Hinch said.

Instead, biggest star so far is a hitter — Soto, still in his first full season and already with a knack for clutch kcks.

It was Soto’s eighth-inning hit that rallied Nationals past Milwaukee in NL wild-card game. He n hit a tying home run off Clayton Kershaw in eighth during deciding Game 5 of Division Series.

Soto was just getting warmed up, apparently.

He’s 4 for 7 with a homer and two doubles in World Series, driving in three runs and scoring three and also stealing a base. And those shakes and shimmies he does at plate, wonder it’s called Soto Shuffle.

And how’s this for timing — his 21st birthday is Friday, when Aníbal Sánchez is scheduled to start for Nationals against Zack Greinke. It will be first World Series game in Washington since 1933 with Senators.

Just imagine 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.”

Soto and Nationals wrapped up a 12-3 romp Wednesday night and made Astros look awful in process.

“Clearly, Nats have outplayed us, bottom line. y came into our building and played two really good games,” Hinch said. “We’re going to have to try to sleep off latter third of this game. I don’t want to lump this into a horrible game; it was a horrible three innings for us.”

Kurt Suzuki got ball rolling — flying, rar — by leading off seventh inning with a tiebreaking home run off Justin Verlander. Things quickly turned messy for Houston, and Nationals pulled away with late homers from Adam Eaton and Michael A. Taylor.

“t in a million, billion, gazillion years did I ever think I’d homer in World Series,” Eaton said.

It hasn’t been that long since a team overcame this kind of deficit in World Series, but it’s been a while.

Only three of past 25 teams to drop first two games at home under 2-3-2 format have rallied to take title. last to do it was 1996 New York Yankees against Atlanta.

Astros led majors with 107 victories and w need to win two of three to merely send matchup back to Houston.

“You can’t dwell on two games t putting everything toger. Something goes our way, one ball goes our way, one line drive finds a gap instead of going at somebody, and everything changes,” Verlander said.

“Things didn’t go our way,” he said. “We don’t have time to feel bad about ourselves. Reset and come into an environment that we kw is going to be pretty crazy and be ready to play baseball like we kw we can.”

Fact is, Nationals kw what y can do, too. y’ve won eight in a row this postseason and 18 of 20 overall dating to stretch run.

t bad for a team that clearly remembers when it was 19-31 and things didn’t look too promising.

Of course, that was May. This is October.

“We’re just playing baseball,” NLCS MVP Howie Kendrick said. “Luck’s going to happen when it happens.”

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