Washington forces World Series Game 7 with Houston

The Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros 7-2 in Houston Tuesday night, forcing a deciding World Series Game 7 on Wednesday.

The Nationals won the first two games of the Series on the road and then lost three straight at home to put them on the brink of elimination.

In Game 6, it was the Nationals third baseman, Houston native Anthony Rendon, who almost single-handedly gave Washington the offensive spark it needed with five RBIs in the game.

Washington opened the game with a run in the first inning off Astros starter Justin Verlander on an RBI single from Rendon, but Houston came back in the bottom of the inning to score two with a Jose Altuve sacrifice fly and a home run from Alex Bregman against Washington’s Stephen Strasberg.

Washington regained the lead in the fifth on home runs from Adam Eaton and Juan Soto.

In the seventh inning, a controversial interference call gave the Nationals a runner on first with one out, instead of runners on second and third with nobody out. Nationals manager Dave Martinez was thrown out of the game after arguing the call, which was ultimately upheld after a review.

But Rendon hit a two-run home run for Washington later in the inning, extending their lead to 5-2. Rendon added a two-run double in the ninth to push the team’s lead to 7-2.

Max Scherzer will start on the mound for the Nationals in Game 7 and the Astros will counter with Game 1 starter Zack Greinke. The game starts at 8:08 p.m. Eastern / 5:08 p.m. Pacific on Fox.