The one thing that will be remembered most from the 2019 World Series will be the success of the road team. The World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals is only the second World Series ever where the road team has won the first five games.
The only other time the winner went to the visitors in each of the first five games was 1996. That year the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Yankees by scores of 12-1 and 4-0 at Yankee Stadium, before the Yankees swept the three games at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium by scores of 5-2, 8-6 (in 10 innings) and 1-0. It would not be until the sixth game of the series that the home team won. The Yankees captured their 23rd World Series title and won the series four games to two with a 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium in front of 56, 375 fans.
The Astros will try to accomplish the same feat on Tuesday night that the Yankees accomplished 23 years ago. After losing 5-4 and 12-3 to the Washington Nationals in the first two games at Minute Maid Park, the Astros came back with a three game sweep at Nationals Park in Washington by scores of 4-1, 8-1 and 7-1.
The Astros were the favourite heading into the 2019 fall classic, and now they are only one win away from capturing their third World Series in five years. Game six on Tuesday will be a rematch of game two in terms of starting pitchers as Stephen Strasburg gets the start for the Nationals and Justin Verlander for the Astros. Despite his remarkable hall of fame career, Verlander has a record of zero wins and five losses in World Series games.
