HOUSTON - Heading into Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday, the Astros were 5-0 when scoring four runs in a postseason game. To make matters worse for the Nationals, Houston was at home and had Gerrit Cole was on the mound, who hadn't taken a loss since May 22. He's been automatic this season.

"I think he's been so good for so long that there's this thought of invincibility and that it's impossible to beat him," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. 

The Astros, the largest World Series favorites according to oddsmakers since 2007, scored four runs in a Cole start and somehow managed to end the night in a 1-0 hole after the Nationals beat down the ace with a pair of historic homers and a huge fifth inning. 

Let us count the ways this one was odd. 

  • Cole hadn't taken a loss since May 22 (mentioned above). 
  • He hadn't allowed more than three runs since Aug. 28.
  • He hadn't given up five or more runs since May 22 and only twice in that span did he cough up more than three.
  • Before striking out just seven Yankees in the ALCS, Cole had a streak of 11 straight double-digit strikeout performances.

And that all came crumbling down in Game 1. Cole only struck out six while giving up five earned runs. He gave up seven balls classified as "hard hit." He struck out just two in innings two through five. He wasn't generating nearly the swings-and-misses he normally does with any pitch. The Nationals really did to him what few thought possible. 

The fifth inning in particular was very un-Cole-like. Here's how things unfolded: 

As noted, that's very much nothing like we've been seeing from Cole for quite a while. He threw 24 pitches and got just one swinging strike -- and that was to Soto the pitch before the double. Cole was not happy with himself regarding the 3-2 pitch to Soto. 

"I didn't throw a sharp slider on the 3-2," he said. "It was a poor pitch to not be able to finish the inning off."   

Overall, Cole just didn't have "it" in Game 1. 

"With the fastball weakened a little bit, we had to be creative," he said. "It was off the corner a couple times. I struggled with the curveball command, too. I didn't have my A-game tonight, outside of a few pitches. It wasn't my sharpest game." 

No, it wasn't. Still, Cole was good enough to get through seven innings, so it's not like the bullpen was emptied. Plus, the Nationals are a great offensive team. Cole acknowledged as much. 

"You try not to beat yourself up too much, especially when you needed to grind," he said. "I felt good to get deep into the game, so we didn't have to stretch anyone out and we have Justin going tomorrow, so we're still in good shape.

"They're one of the two best teams in the world. When you're not executing, they make you pay." 

Added Hinch: "All in all, we knew it was going to be tough. These guys are really tough to put away. They don't strike out a lot and they proved tonight they're putting the ball in play on a couple two-strike at-bats, finding holes, hitting some balls hard, and a couple of balls out of the ballpark." 

If the Astros are going to come back and win this deficit -- and they are very much still the favorite -- they'll probably need a good outing from Cole in Game 5. Between now and then, the Astros and Cole need to figure out what went wrong here, because the Nationals were seeing him far too well, especially in the fifth inning.