The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros packed up from Texas after the first two games of the World Series and are now ready to continue their combat in the nation’s capital.  Prior to the MLB championship series getting underway, the Astros were the hands-down favorite to win, possibly in just four games.  However, the Nationals have completely dominated since the start, taking Game 1 5-4 and following that up with an absurd 12-3 win Wednesday night.

There’s a good chance that the Nationals are going to win again tonight for a few reasons.  They have the home-field advantage – which they obviously don’t need – and the Astros are having to deal with the mid-stream firing of GM Brandon Taubman.  He was just let go by the team after “inappropriate” language in front of female reporters and that type of drama is the last thing the team needed as it looked to put its first win on the board.

What’s done is done, though, and the Astros will just have to get out there and see what they can come up with.  The Nationals have now moved into position as the favorites to win the series and are -280, while the Astros are around +226.  A sweep of the series by the DC team is now looking at odds of about +275.

Based on the performance put up by the Nationals so far, it’s no surprise that they’ve been selected as the team that will score the first run tonight – that bet has odds of around +138.  If you ask around, the chances of the game seeing more than eight runs are about -107.  Trea Turner is more than likely going to steal a base, given the +200 odds on the prop bet, and Juan Soto is +210 for getting at least two hits during the game.

Both of the first two games favored the over as the Nationals pulled out everything they had to secure the victories.  They performance has paid off big time and is expected to continue tonight.  The total expected runs for the game currently sit at 7.5, unless the Nationals pull off another surprise.  However, the Astros are looking to stage a comeback to keep their dreams alive and they might find it.  They currently sit at +135 to take the win.

This series has already been full of action never seen before.  It started with Ryan Zimmerman hitting the first Nationals home run in a World Series in Game 1 after connecting on a Gerrit Cole pitch.  Zimmerman also scored another first with the homer, as he became the first player ever with a last name that starts with a “Z” to achieve the feat.

Chalk up another first for the Nationals.  They’re the first team to have score a home run in each of the last three regular innings of a World Series game, which they did in Game 2.

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has a first of his own.  He’s the first pitcher ever to lose his first five World Series decisions after seeing a 0-5 record in six World Series starts.

A Nationals victory tonight would not only make fans of the team happy, but it would also put the organization in a great spot to win the series.  If the Astros are able to figure out what they’ve done wrong, though, they could quickly get back into the mix and not let go until they capture the final victory.