The Washington Nationals are the 2019 World Series Champions. The Nationals came from behind to defeat the heavily favored Houston Astros 6-2, in Wednesday night's decisive Game 7 to win the franchise's first championship. Starting pitcher Stephen Strausburg was named the World Series MVP, after winning Game 2 and Game 6 of the series.
A team with a knack for late dramatics finished off their season with another late rally. Entering the 7th inning trailing 2-0, Howie Kendrick and Anthony Rendon once again came up clutch with a pair of home runs to give Washington a 3-2 lead from which they wouldn't look back.
Most wrote the Nationals off in May as they sat at 19-31, superstar slugger Bryce Harper had departed for Philadelphia Phillies, and manager Dave Martinez's job was thought to be in danger. The Nationals caught fire down the stretch and made the playoffs as the Wild Card, but the odds were stacked against them. Each and every time they looked down and out, the Nationals would find a way as they came from behind to win 5 different elimination games in the 2019 postseason. Fittingly, they won the first-ever World Series, in which the road team won every game.
The title gives the nation's capital its first baseball title since 1924 and erases over a decade of playoff heartbreak for the Nationals faithful.
3-time Cy Young-winning pitcher Max Scherzer remarkably pitched the first 5 innings of the contest just days after being unable to even lift his arm due to irritation in his neck. His effort was enough to keep the game close to help the Nationals become the first Wild Card team to win the Fall Classic since 2014.
Both teams will turn their attention to the offseason, and Spring Training which opens in February.