WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros will play Game 5 of the 2019 World Series on Sunday night, with the winner taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. What was supposed to be an ace-off between Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole has since been altered due to injury. Nationals manager Davey Martinez announced prior to the game that Scherzer had been scratched from his start due to neck and back spasms. The Nationals will instead turn to Joe Ross, a right-hander who had previously pitched in relief in Game 3.

A fair question to ask is: what can be expected from the Nationals in light of the Scherzer news?

Let's start by addressing Ross, the 26-year-old now thrust into the biggest start of his career. Ross enters Game 5 having made just one other postseason start -- that coming back in 2016, when he threw 2 ⅔ innings and allowed four runs in the National League Divisional Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

At that point, Ross looked like a budding young star: a prized acquisition who came to Washington in a three-team trade centered around Steven Souza Jr. In 35 regular-season appearances, he had accumulated a 3.52 ERA (118 ERA+) and 3.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The years since haven't been quite as honeycombed with highlights. Rather, Ross has dealt with injuries and shaky performance, including this year, in which he posted a 5.48 ERA in 27 appearances -- most of them coming in relief.

Ross did pitch better after moving back to the rotation in August, starting eight times and running a 2.75 ERA and a .674 OPS against. He did have just a 1.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in those appearances, however, and averaged just short of five innings per pop.

Stuff-wise, Ross relies heavily on his mid-90s fastballs and a slider that generated whiffs on more than 30 percent of the swings taken against it. He'll also mix in a curveball and changeup against left-handed batters. Considering his dependence on his fastball-slider, it shouldn't be any surprise that he's fared better against righties than lefties throughout his career -- he's held opponents to a .667 OPS when he has the platoon advantage and a .856 OPS without it.

As for the rest of the game, Martinez implied that the Nationals will not approach this as a bullpen game, but rather a normal start from Ross. The Nationals do have a rested Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson available to them. Seeing as how they're the best two relievers in the bullpen, it's possible that Martinez tasks them with tallying three-plus innings total.

Whatever Martinez, Ross, and the Nationals do, this is a pivotal game. The winner will be one victory away from claiming the World Series. The loser, conversely, will require two more wins in order to win the championship.