World Series 2019: Astros vs. Nationals Game 5, Pitching Preview Predictions

An 8-1 victory by the Houston Astros over the Washington Nationals in Game 4 on Saturday night evened up the 2019 World Series and set the table for a pivotal Game 5 at Nationals Park on Sunday.

It will be a familiar pitching matchup in Game 5, as Houston right-hander Gerrit Cole and Washington right-hander Max Scherzer are set to go head-to-head for the second time in this series. Scherzer got the better of Cole and the Astros in Game 1, leading the Nationals to a series-opening 5-4 victory at Minute Maid Park.

Below is a look ahead at what's in store Sunday.

Houston Astros' Probable Pitcher: RHP Gerrit Cole

Game 5 offers Cole a chance at redemption.

Cole put himself in the 2019 American League Cy Young award conversation by going 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA and an MLB-high 326 strikeouts in a career-high 212.2 innings during the regular season.

He upped his game even further early on this postseason, going 3-0 while allowing just one run on 10 hits in 22.2 innings in his first three starts.

He entered the World Series on one of the most dominant runs by a pitcher ever, going 19-0 with a 1.59 ERA over a 25-start stretch from May 27 to Oct. 15.

Unfortunately for him, his luck ran out in Game 1. After being handed a 2-0 lead in the first, he allowed five runs on eight hits in seven innings. His six strikeouts were his fewest since Aug. 1, with 12 starts coming between those outings.

Houston has to be wondering whether that rocky start was just an aberration or whether the star has run out of gas.

"My game plan isn't to go in and strike out 13-14 guys a game," Cole said Saturday, per AFP's Jim Slater (h/y Yahoo). "My game plan is to try to execute the pitches. If I execute them at a high level and pick the right ones at the right times, my stuff allows me to get swing and miss. If you're a team that doesn't do that, maybe you just swing and miss less."

The good news for the Astros is that any time Cole has allowed four or more earned runs in a start this season (five previous occasions), he has responded by allowing no more than two runs in his next outing. Then again, not once did he face the same team in his next start.

Also of note, Houston has not last back-to-back Cole starts since April. He has made 31 starts during that span.

Having spent the first five years of his career in the National League with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cole has some experience pitching at Nationals Park. He is 1-2 with a 4.41 ERA in three career outings in Washington, with his most recent appearance coming in September 2017.

Washington Nationals' Probable Pitcher: RHP Max Scherzer

Washington could not ask for a much better situation for Game 5, as it sends its ace to the mound at home with a chance to take a 3-2 series lead to Houston.

Scherzer has put together an incredible postseason run, going 3-0 while allowing a total of six runs in 25 innings, spanning five appearances. Though he only went five innings in Game 1, he outdueled Cole while holding Houston scoreless over his final four frames.

In 15 starts at home during the regular season, Scherzer recorded a 3.16 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .224 average. He has allowed more than three runs at home just twice in 17 starts, including the postseason, this year.

Scherzer has thrown a total of 197.1 innings in 2019, and if Washington wants to have a shot at winning Game 5, getting length out of Scherzer will be key. The Astros have made the Nationals' starters work throughout the series, leading to an average of just 5.2 innings per start through the first four games.

Scherzer was able to tame Houston's dangerous lineup Tuesday, but now that Jose Altuve and Co. have hit their stride, he will have his work cut out for him in the biggest start of his career.

Game 5 Preview

Momentum is a dangerous thing in October, and the Astros have all of it.

This has the makings of a classic World Series matchup, with two of the top pitchers in the game going head-to-head. Cole will have to learn from his Game 1 mistakes and make adjustments, while Scherzer will have to try to keep the Astros hitters guessing for the second time in a week.

Houston proved in the American League Championship Series that it is able to learn from losses. After New York Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka threw six innings of one-hit, shutout baseball in Game 1, the Astros responded by scoring four runs against Tanaka in five innings in Game 4.

Tanaka is no Scherzer, but facing a team twice in less than a week is no easy task regardless of the pitcher.

Expect both Scherzer and Cole to limit the offensive output early on. Houston has done an excellent job of working Washington's pitch counts early in the series, and it should be more of the same in this contest. 

If the Nationals are going to have any chance to snap out of their skid, Scherzer will need to be on top of his game and pitch deep into the contest. The Nationals bullpen has had to cover 6.2 innings the past two games and faces a third game in as many days.

It may be hard to envision the NL champs coming home with a 2-0 series lead and proceeding to drop all three games in D.C. However, the Nationals have scored just two runs through their first two home games of the series—and they are set to go up against a pitcher who might win the 2019 AL Cy Young award.

Prediction: Astros 4, Nationals 2