re: Nationals 12 @ Astros 3 Final - FOX

The Astros look like a physically tired and emotionally exhausted team. They were pushed to the limit against Tampa and New York. JV got off of his schedule in Tampa and hasn’t really looked the same since. The hitting was suspect in that series and carried over to the Yankees series, where the pitching and a few timely homers got them through a physically and emotionally challenging 6-game series. I think they were still recovering from those first two series when the Nats popped them in the mouth in game 1 and they just haven’t recovered. They had very little time to do research on the Nats and it’s showing in the pitching approaches from both Cole and Verlander. And the hitting is really not much better than the first two series. Perhaps this off day and the first two games will lead to a better plan on how to attack the Nats’ hitters, but they’re not gonna come close to winning this series if a dramatic offensive shift doesn’t materialize. Cause this offensive void looks to be approaching one of the worst and longest periods of non production in the last three years.