Alan Truex: Does Gerrit Cole have one more inning for Houston?

Updated Wednesday, October 30, 2019

HOUSTON — This 115th World Series has been evenly played and well played, the road team winning all six games – first time that’s happened.  So the Washington Nationals are tied with the Houston Astros at 3 wins apiece to set up Game 7 on Wednesday night.  

Despite the brilliance of each squad – at the plate, in the field, on the mound — this Series has been short on late-inning drama.  Only the first game was in doubt in the 8th inning, after Houston’s No. 1, Gerrit Cole, was hard-hit and departed after 7, losing 5-4.  The other four games have been decided by 3 runs or more, including Tuesday night’s 7-2 pullaway by Washington.

Tuesday’s game was supposed to be a classic duel of power pitchers, 18-game winner Stephen Strasburg vs. 21-game winner Justin Verlander, who undeservedly carries a unique 0-6 World Series record.

In this age of analytics, Verlander was moved to quip: “I thought we didn’t talk about record anymore.”

You won’t get the reticent Strasburg to talk about his record, but he’s the most luminous star of this postseason: 5-0, 1.90 ERA.

The Astros jumped on him for two runs in the first inning, before he realized he was providing batters with clues on what pitch was coming.

Throughout this postseason the Astros have been accused of sign-stealing.  They’re not breaking rules, they’re just paying attention, aided by video surveillance at Minute Maid Park.

Nationals pitching coach Paul Meinhart picked up Strasburg’s tells.  “Meinhart talked to me in the dugout and suggested I change things up a little bit,” Strasburg said on MLB Network.

So he focused on spreading his glove the same way before every delivery.  He didn’t allow further scoring before giving way to Sean Doolittle in the 9th inning.

So now we go to Game 7, 7:08 p.m. CST, on Fox.  The starting pitchers here could become irrelevant in a hurry.  Both of them, Max Scherzer for Washington and Zack Greinke for Houston, are problematic, the former being physically impaired and the latter being emotionally challenged.  

We probably haven’t seen the last of Cole, who had the most dominant pitching appearance of this Series when he threw 7 innings of 1-run, 3-hit, 9-strikeout ball Sunday night in Washington.  

Cole said he has another inning in him.  If his team is leading late, look for him in the 9th in lieu of closer Roberto Osuna, who’s tainted by past domestic violence and is being used sparingly.

For this postseason Cole is 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA.  His arsenal — 100 mph heat, sweeping low slider, fadeaway changeup – is unequaled and will ensure him of at least $250 million in free agency in the upcoming winter.

Strasburg, 31, is eligible for free agency at the same time as Cole, 29.  What a fortunate coincidence for the two greatest treasures of the diamond.

Alex Bregman celebrated too much following his game-tying solo homer off Strasburg in Tuesday’s first inning.  The American League MVP favorite did not flip his bat but did something more provocative, took it with him to first base.

Astros manager AJ Hinch considered this a violation of The Unwritten Rulebook: “He shouldn’t carry the bat to first base.”  Bregman agreed: “That’s not how I was raised to play the game.”

Bregman, 25, is strangely on-and-off his game in this World Series.  He’s sometimes magnificent (home runs in 3 games) but sometimes “horrible,” as he described his play in the first two.  

Worst thing he did Tuesday was provide more motivation for his opponents, who develop immense energy from disrespect that’s been heaped on the wild-carders.  

“I was thinking it was pretty cool,” Juan Soto said later.  “I want to do it too.”

So the 21-year-old phenom mimicked Bregman after dinging the gopher-prone Verlander in the 5th, giving the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.

But if this game lacked 9th-inning drama, it provided an all-time great 7th.

With Yan Gomez at first base, nobody out, Trae Turner dribbled a grounder toward the mound.  Brad Peacock, in relief of Verlander, threw to Yuli Gurriel. One of baseball’s fastest runners, Turner took a direct path down the line but ran into the first baseman’s glove, knocking it from his hand.  

Umpire Sam Holbrook ruled, correctly, that Turner had “interfered” with the fielder and was therefore out.  

The Nats were outraged by a rule that’s long been debated and almost certainly will be changed in the wake of this controversy.

As Turner saw it, correctly: “I swung, I ran in a straight line, I got hit by the ball, and I’m out.  I don’t understand it.”

Nats manager Dave Martinez also did not understand.  He mounted such a relentless protest that he was ejected at the end of the half-inning.

Of course, that brought still more fire to the Nats.  Will Harris, Houston’s most reliable reliever, entered and promptly served up a 2-run homer to Anthony Rendon.  The game was essentially over. Rendon, who grew up in this city, capped it with a 2-run double in the 9th that gave him 5 RBIs for the evening.

So now, Game 7.  Scherzer, long-time ace who was scratched from his scheduled Game 5 start because of a pinched nerve in his neck, was revived by a cortisone shot.  He removed a neck brace, warmed up twice during Tuesday’s game and would have been used if necessary.  

That does not mean he’ll be fine tonight.  There will be stiffness in his neck and likely relief from Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, Daniel Hudson and Doolittle.  

On the other side is Greinke, a monster in the regular season (205 wins) but a postseason enigma.  He’s had two shaky starts in this month and has a career postseason record of 3-6, with a 4.31 ERA.  He’s been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, and there’s no doubt postseason baseball increases anxiety.

So this World Series surely won’t lack for drama on the final day.  Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton is probably right that if Scherzer wins Game 7, “it’s going to be a movie.”