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The Nationals won the series, four games to three, to secure their first title in franchise history and first in the capital city since the 1924 series. Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg was named the World Series Most Valuable Player after earning two wins in the series. He started the season with the Hagerstown Suns, hitting .373 in 16 games with five home runs and 24 RBIs, before being promoted early in the season to the Potomac Nationals in the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. After 15 games with Potomac, in which he hit .371 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs, he was promoted to play with the Harrisburg Senators in the Class AA Eastern League.
It was the first World Series in which the Houston Astros had home-field advantage. The series was played in a 2–3–2 format, with the Astros hosting Games 1, 2, 6, and 7; and the Nationals hosting Games 3, 4, and 5. Following the season, Soto was named to the All-MLB First Team and won the National League Silver Slugger Award for the outfield, receiving both honors for the second straight season. Soto was the runner up in National League Most Valuable Player Award voting, losing out to Bryce Harper. Soto became the sixth player in MLB history to finish as runner-up in both MVP and Rookie of the Year voting.
National League
By 2022, the Lerner family were exploring a sale of the Nationals. Later that year at the trade deadline, the team traded superstar Juan Soto, after he rejected a reported 14-year extension, to San Diego for young players and prospects. Soto was named to the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and also participated in the 2022 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, which he won. He became the second youngest Home Run Derby winner behind Juan González who won in 1993; Soto was one day older.
That made the Nationals the second team in World Series history to receive at least one home run from a player 20 years or younger and one from a player 35 or older in the Fall Classic. The only other occurrence happened when Mantle and Johnny Mize both homered for the Yankees in the 1952 World Series. Soto and Zimmerman had the third-largest age gap between two players homering in the same World Series game, behind only David Ross and Javier Báez in Game 7 in 2016 and Eddie Murray and Javy Lopez in Game 2 in 1995.
Nationals hitting coach predicted Soto’s home run
In the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, the Nationals swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four games to secure the first pennant in franchise history . It was the first World Series appearance for a team from Washington D.C. Since 1933, including 33 seasons that the city did not host an MLB team (1972–2004).
It was just about as tough an assignment Nationals hitters could’ve asked for to open the series. HOUSTON -- Few hitters, especially those who bat left-handed, are capable of hitting balls onto the train tracks sitting above the left-field wall at Minute Maid Park. Since Statcast began tracking in 2015, no left-handed hitter had launched a ball 417 feet to the opposite field in this ballpark.
Game summaries
Sean Doolittle, the Nationals' fifth pitcher of the game, got the final out of the eighth inning and retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, concluding matters when Carlos Correa lined out to Víctor Robles to preserve the win. Doolittle earned his second save of the postseason and the underdogs took the series lead, marking the first time in franchise history that the Nationals won a World Series game. Verlander exited after five innings, having allowed three runs on five hits while striking out three batters. In the top of the seventh inning, Trea Turner was controversially called out for interference on a play at first base, which Washington manager Dave Martinez furiously took issue with, leading to his ejection. Later that inning, a two-out, two-run home run by Rendon off Will Harris—who had not allowed an earned run in the postseason—increased Washington's lead to 5–2.
In the second inning, Josh Reddick batted in Carlos Correa as Houston scored the game's first run. In the third inning, José Altuve doubled and advanced to third on an error, then scored on an infield single by Michael Brantley, giving the Astros a 2–0 lead. The Nationals loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, but were unable to score. In the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Zimmerman walked then was driven in by a triple by Víctor Robles, cutting the Astros' lead to 2–1. Soto clubbed a trio of home runs in the World Series, and this one in Game 6 had the biggest exclamation mark. Down, 3-2, to the Astros in the Series and with the score tied at 2 in the fifth, Soto rocked a two-out, go-ahead solo shot off Justin Verlander.
Post-game, both managers voiced displeasure with the bat-carrying; Bregman apologized and said he was at fault. The Astros had home-field advantage for the series, due to having a better regular-season record than the Nationals. It was the third World Series in which home-field advantage was decided by the regular-season records of the American and National league champions, a practice that started in the 2017 season.
MLB Scores Yesterday's MLB Games, Scores from any date in Major League history, MLB Probable Pitchers, Baseball-Reference Stream Finder, ... Soto signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2018 and was the runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. In 2019, he was a key part of the Nationals' first World Series championship. In 2020, he won the National League batting title with a .351 average.
Overall in 2022, combined with both teams, Soto played 152 total games with a .244 batting average, 27 home runs, 62 RBI, and an MLB-leading 135 walks. He walked in 20.3% of his plate appearances, tops in the major leagues, and had the highest BB/K% in the majors, at 1.41. He swung at a lower percentage of pitches outside the strike zone (19.9%) than any other major league batter. The Nationals, however, quickly lost many players from their championship team and fell to the bottom of the league.
It can take years for players to accumulate enough noteworthy home runs to warrant a “most memorable” list. The Nationals’ Game 1 victory surprised most of the country and gave their fans real hope that they could pull off the upset to win the World Series. It’s been a year since the series began, but Soto’s heroics against a player of Cole’s stature stands as one of the more impressive feats of the young superstar’s budding career.
"In the first at-bat, I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit shaking in my legs." Juan José Soto Pacheco is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball . The ball traveled 417 feet, flying over the Crawford Boxes in the left field at Minute Maid Park before finding its final resting place along the train tracks above the stands. It was a shocking moment, when Cole suddenly appeared mortal and Soto left the entire ballpark stunned as to what just happened. The National Baseball Hall of Fame took notice, securing the ball and bringing it back to Cooperstown. From that 15-minute session after the game, Soto felt like something clicked, and opposing pitchers are paying the price.
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