Astros hammer Washington Nationals, head home to Houston on brink of winning World Series again

AP photo by Patrick Semansky / The Houston Astros' George Springer, left, celebrates after hitting a two-run homer against the Washington Nationals during the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night in Washington. AP photo by Patrick Semansky / The Houston Astros' George Springer, left, celebrates after hitting a two-run homer against the Washington Nationals during the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night in Washington.

By Associated Press October 28, 2019 5 min read

WASHINGTON – Gerrit Cole and the Houston Astros went to Washington, hoping to snap out of their funk and bring the World Series back to Minute Maid Park.

Not only are they heading home with more games to play, now they’re just one win from another crown.

Handed the ball for what was supposed to be a high-stakes showdown against Max Scherzer, Cole gave Houston a firm grip on the best-of-seven series by beating the Nationals 7-1 Sunday night for a 3-2 lead.

Cole looked exactly like the stud who dominated baseball most of this season, bouncing back from a Game 1 clunker to pitch the Astros to their third straight win.

What a turnaround for his teammates, too – outscored 17-7 overall at home, Houston hammered Washington 19-3 at Nationals Park.