Game 7 of the 2019 World Series

Lore & Background

The 2019 Nationals were a team of destiny, having started the season 19-31 before rallying to claim a Wild Card berth. Their postseason run was a masterclass in resilience: they eliminated the favored Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series, swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the Championship Series, and then faced a 2-3 deficit in the World Series against the 107-win Astros. Game 7 was the ultimate test, a road game in a hostile environment where the Nationals' bullpen, long considered a weakness, had to hold the line.

The game itself was a tense, low-scoring affair until the seventh inning, when the Nationals erupted for three runs against the Astros' vaunted bullpen. Anthony Rendon's go-ahead home run off Will Harris and Howie Kendrick's two-run blast off Joe Smith turned a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 lead. The Nationals' bullpen, led by Patrick Corbin's three scoreless innings of relief, shut down the Astros' lineup, and Daniel Hudson closed the door in the ninth. When Juan Soto caught the final out in left field, a city that had waited 95 years for a World Series title finally celebrated.

In Their Own Story

The air in Minute Maid Park was thick with tension, the roar of 43,000 fans a constant hum. Max Scherzer, battling a neck injury that had nearly scratched him from the start, gutted through five innings, leaving with the game tied 2-2. In the seventh, Anthony Rendon stepped to the plate against Will Harris, the Astros' trusted reliever. The crack of the bat sent a line drive screaming into the Crawford Boxes, and the Nationals' dugout erupted. Two batters later, Howie Kendrick, the veteran who had already delivered a grand slam in Game 5, launched a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole—the ball caroming off the yellow padding as if guided by fate. The silence from the Houston crowd was deafening. Patrick Corbin, the $140 million free agent signed to be a starter, worked three perfect innings of relief, his slider biting and his fastball popping, each out bringing the Nationals closer to history. When Daniel Hudson struck out Michael Brantley to end it, the Nationals poured onto the field, a team of castoffs and homegrown stars united in triumph, while 95 years of waiting for a Washington baseball championship finally came to an end.

Reader's Guide

The occasion was the winner-take-all Game 7 of the 2019 World Series, a championship decider between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros. The Nationals, having never won a World Series in their 51-season history (including the Montreal Expos era), faced the Astros, who had won 107 games and were seeking their second title in three years. The game was played at Minute Maid Park in Houston, with the Astros holding home-field advantage.

What happened: The game was tied 2-2 through six innings, with both teams trading runs early. In the top of the seventh, Anthony Rendon hit a go-ahead home run off Astros reliever Will Harris. Howie Kendrick followed with a two-run homer that caromed off the right-field foul pole, giving the Nationals a 5-2 lead. Patrick Corbin, normally a starter, delivered three scoreless innings of relief, and Daniel Hudson closed the door in the ninth. The final out: Juan Soto catching a fly ball in left field, setting off a celebration that had been 95 years in the making.

Did You Know?

• The Nationals became the first team in major professional sports history to win a championship without ever leading in a series—they trailed in all four postseason series they played.
• Howie Kendrick's go-ahead home run in Game 7 was the first pinch-hit home run in a World Series Game 7 since 1960.
• The 2019 Nationals were the first team to win the World Series after being 12 games under .500 (19-31) during the regular season since the 1914 Boston Braves.
• Patrick Corbin's three-inning relief appearance in Game 7 was the longest scoreless relief outing in a World Series Game 7 since 1968.