There is an old saying in baseball that great pitching, great defense and timely hitting trumps all. This is what the Nationals have done throughout the playoffs against "better teams on paper". Love it when old sayings are true. When I look at this objectively, Verlander kept them in the game and went toe to toe with Strasburg throughout the game. They were on a similar pitch count and both settled down after a rough first inning. However, then Nats defense was much better. The Astros defense was exposed for poor judgement. Bregman knows he has to hold that infield hit ball which led two more runs and opened the flood gates because of an errant throw to first. Okay Verlander gave up the go ahead to Suzuki but that is just one run and you've got to be disciplined with decisions to keep your team in the game. The Astros just looked sloppy, and they didn't know what to do because they've never been in that position before. The Astros dug themselves a hole and their bats couldn't get them out....so much for timely hitting.
There were glimpse of the Nats playing this well during the season, but nothing like the streak they are on now. The Nats are my national league team and I follow them pretty closely. The Astros just look lost and they are trying to blast themselves out of this offensive funk. This is playing right into the Nats hands.
As always, JMO.