World Series 2019: Max Scherzer battles, Nationals survive shaky bullpen to steal Game 1 win vs. Astros

The Astros had baserunners all night, but the Nationals kept them in check

HOUSTON -- When you think about an ace-like performance, you think seven or eight shutout innings with double-digit strikeouts. Something like that. A pitcher who just overwhelms the opposing team. We've seen Nationals righty Max Scherzer have plenty of starts like that over the years.

In Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night (WAS 5, HOU 4), Scherzer turned in a different kind of ace-like performance. He clearly did not have his best stuff or command -- the slider in particular was giving him problems -- and the Astros elevated his pitch count early, yet Scherzer was still able to battle through five effective innings.

Scherzer put a runner on base in four of his five innings and at least two runners on base in three of his five innings. By my unofficial count, he threw 70 of his 113 pitches from the stretch, or roughly two-thirds. The Astros had traffic on the bases all night, yet went only 3 for 14 with men on base against Scherzer, and two of the three hits did not score runs.

"That lineup is great," Scherzer said." They absolutely grinded me. Never let me get in rhythm. I was having to make pitches out of the stretch from the first inning on. For me, I just stayed with (catcher Kurt Suzuki). 'Zuk called some big time pitches for me tonight and blocked some big time pitches for me too, especially with runners on third base ... I had to bounce sliders and changeups in the dirt. I didn't want to give in."

The Astros struck first on Yuli Gurriel's two-out, two-strike, two-run double in the first inning. The first two Astros reached base, the next two struck out, and Scherzer made a quality pitch to Gurriel. He ran a 96 mph fastball up and in. It was a well-executed chase pitch with two strikes. Gurriel got his hands around quick enough to drive it into the game. Credit to him.

Scherzer stranded Gurriel at second in the first inning. He pitched around a leadoff walk in the second. In the third, he left runners at second and third following Gurriel's bloop single to center. Most impressively, Scherzer won an eight-pitch battle with Jose Altuve to end the fourth inning on a ground out. Houston had runners on first and second and it seemed Altuve was on everything.

At no point in Game 1 did Scherzer dominate. The Astros put together long at-bats and made Scherzer work for every out, and they threatened in each of the first four innings. And yet, Scherzer kept them off the board after the first inning. Lesser pitchers do not get through five innings against that Houston lineup under those circumstances. Only aces like Scherzer do.

"Max, kudos to him. He gave us everything he had today," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "Those guys are good. They don't chase. And they're good hitters. He gave us everything he had. And as the game was rolling along and I started watching Max's pitch count, I knew that there was going to become an inning that we need to use Corbin. "

The Nationals skipper declined to name a Game 3 starter during Monday's workout day for one reason and one reason only: Martinez wanted Patrick Corbin available in relief in Game 1. With Scherzer's pitch count elevated, Martinez went to Corbin for the sixth inning, and the $140 million lefty pitch around a one-out single in a scoreless inning.

"This is what you dream of, what you fight for all season, to get to this point," Corbin said. "For me to just be able to go out there and help in any way, it was great ... Just go out there and do your job. If you're prepared, you hope for good results."

I expected Martinez to stick with Corbin for the seventh inning as well. The top of the lineup was due up in the seventh and Corbin, with his wipeout slider, is better equipped to handle those hitters than any of Washington's middle relievers. Martinez went to Tanner Rainey instead, and four pitches later George Springer hit a home run off the left field advertisements. Ominous.

A strikeout and two walks later -- Rainey had 74 strikeouts and 38 walks in 48 1/3 regular season innings, so strikeouts and walks are kind of his thing -- the Astros had Gurriel at the plate as the go-ahead run. Martinez had three options at that point. He could stick with Rainey, go to another middle reliever, or go to his bullpen ace Daniel Hudson. Martinez went with the third option.

Using Hudson, Washington's nominal closer, in the seventh inning was definitely not according to plan, but it was the correct move. The Astros were threatening with their biggest bats due up. That was the highest leverage moment of the game and required the best the bullpen had to offer, no matter the inning. That's Hudson, and that's who Martinez brought in.

The Astros did not make it easy. They never do. After Gurriel popped up to second base, Carlos Correa beat out an infield single to load the bases for Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez went 1 for 22 with 12 strikeouts in the ALCS. He was 2 for 2 with a walk up to that point in Game 1. Manager A.J. Hinch has confidence in the rookie slugger and has struck with him those postseason.

As good as Alvarez is -- and he is very good -- he can be beat with high-velocity fastballs. His swing and miss rate on fastballs at 95 mph or better was 24.1 percent during the regular season, exactly the MLB average. Against 94 mph fastballs and below, Alvarez swung and missed only 16.1 percent of the time, below the 18.9 percent league average. You want him to see velocity.

Velocity is what Hudson gave him. It was a classic good morning, good afternoon, good night three-pitch strikeout, all on fastballs. Hudson climbed the ladder well:

Daniel Hudson struck out Yordan Alvarez with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning in Game 1. Baseball Savant/CBS Sports

"It obviously didn't go as planned," Rainey said about his outing. "The whole game coming in, we knew it was going to be a battle. Max battled through five innings and game us everything we had. Corbin did a great job ... It just didn't go my way. Huddie came in behind me and cleaned it up and did what he had to do."  

The Alvarez strikeout ended the seventh inning, but the Nationals still had six outs to get, and those last six outs have been a challenge all year. Eight pitches into the eighth inning, the Astros had crept to within 5-4 and had the tying run at second base with one out. Kyle Tucker slapped a pinch-hit leadoff single and Springer brought him home with a double to right. It nearly left the park.

Hudson was 16 pitches into his outing at that point with an up-and-down mixed in -- sitting down and warming up for another inning will take something out of a pitcher -- and the Nationals had lefty Sean Doolittle warming in the bullpen. Doolittle against a dead red right-handed fastball hitter like Altuve didn't make sense though, so Martinez stuck with Hudson, who got the line out to right.

With the left-handed hitting Michael Brantley due up, Martinez went to Doolittle, who got the butt-clenching line out to left to end the inning. Off the bat, I thought it would get down and tie the game. Instead, it settled into Juan Soto's glove. The Astros fell to 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position for the game. Doolittle then went 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game.

Because the Astros elevated Scherzer's pitch count -- his pitch count by inning: 25, 25, 27, 29, 18 -- Martinez needed length from his bullpen, and he cobbled together four innings with four pitchers, including his presumed Game 3 starter. I thought using Corbin for one inning and one inning only was a mistake. I thought using him in the seventh was the way to go, but it didn't happen.

"For me it's about playing one game," Martinez said about his bullpen usage. "And that's what we focus on, is just worry about the game at hand and then go from there."  

Ultimately, four relievers did what they had to do, which was get 12 outs before allowing three runs. It wasn't pretty, especially that seventh inning, but it worked. When Scherzer works that hard and the Nationals need four innings from their bullpen, and Gerrit Cole is on the other side, Washington doesn't escape with a win all that often. They did in Game 1, however, and are now three wins from a championship.

"Necessity is the other of invention," GM Mike Rizzo said about the bullpen after Game 5 "...Davey's played really good chess with those guys and I think he's done a really good job with it."