Anthony Rendon Helps Lead Washington Nationals to World Series Game 6 Victory

Anthony Rendon is celebrating his high-octane performance in the World Series

The 29-year-old Latino Washington Nationals third baseman came up big for the team with a huge two-run home run shot to put Washington up 5-2 against the Houston Astros in World Series Game 6, helping cement the team’s victory to set up a decisive Game 7.

Anthony Rendon

In the end, the Nationals defeated the Astros 7-2 in a game that made up for the lack of drama throughout most of the first five games in the series.

The Nationals have now won their fourth straight elimination game this postseason to force the 40th Game 7 in World Series history.

Rendon got the scoring started with a single through Houston’s shifted infield. That was just the beginning of a massive game for Washington’s All-Star third baseman. The Astros immediately countered with two runs against Stephen Strasburg in the bottom half following a George Springer double, a Jose Altuve sacrifice fly and an Alex Bregmanhome run thatraised the ire of baseball purists because he decided to carry his bat all the way with him to first base.

That moment prompted a response from Washington’s Juan Soto, who four innings later carried his own bat all the way to first base following a go-ahead home run. Soto’s blast followed Adam Eaton’s game-tying home run off Justin Verlander.

The game’s two biggest hits were both delivered by Rendon. In the seventh inning, he smashed a two-run home run to extend the Nationals lead and lessen the impact of the earlier interference call. Then in the ninth, he put the game away with a two-run double.

Strasburg made the support stand up, pitching 8 1/3 innings of two-run ball before turning it over to closer Sean Doolittle.

Quintana Named to American League All-Star Team

It’s a special first for Jose Quintana

The 27-year-old Colombian professional baseball player, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, has replaced the Cleveland IndiansDanny Salazar on the American League All-Star roster.

Jose Quintana

A first-time All-Star, Quintana is 7-8 with a 3.21 ERA, sixth in the AL at the start of Sunday. He joins teammate Chris Sale on the AL roster.

Kansas City‘s Wade Davis, Boston‘s Craig Kimbrel and Toronto‘s Marco Estrada also were dropped from the AL pitching staff because of injuries, and Cleveland’s Corey Kluber and Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez were added.

In the National League, Los AngelesClayton Kershaw and New York‘s Noah Syndergaard got hurt and won’t pitch, along with Stephen Strasburg, who just came off the disabled list, and San Francisco‘s Madison Bumgarner, who starts Sunday. New York’s Bartolo Colon, San Diego‘s Drew Pomeranz and Washington‘s Max Scherzer were added.

In the infield, Aledmys Diaz replaced St. Louis teammate Matt Carpente. In the outfield, Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce and Pittsburgh‘s Starling Marte replaced the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes and Chicago‘s Dexter Fowler.

Miami‘s Marcell Ozuna and Colorado‘s Carlos Gonzalez entered the starting lineup in place of Cespedes and Fowler.