Washington @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 27, 2019 ) Houston 7, Washington 1

After waiting 55 years for their first World Series championship, the Houston Astros can claim their second in a three-year span with a win in Game 6 against the visiting Washington Nationals on Tuesday. The Astros rebounded in impressive fashion from a 2-0 deficit by taking all three games in Washington over the weekend, holding the Nationals to one run in each contest.

"I love our feel for the moment and feel for this team," Houston manager A.J. Hinch told reporters. "Everybody talks about culture and chemistry, and when you have it, you love it. When you see it on the other side, you're envious of it." The Astros won the 2017 World Series with a clinching Game 7 victory on the road but can try to close this one out at Minute Maid Park, where they were an MLB-best 60-21 during the regular season and 5-1 in the playoffs before losing the first two to the Nationals last week. Justin Verlander is 0-3 over his last four playoff starts - including a 12-3 setback in Game 2 - and will try to finish off Washington when he gets the nod Tuesday. Stephen Strasburg outdueled Verlander in the Game 2 rout and will attempt to do so again with his team's season on the line.

TV: 8:07 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (4-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. Astros RH Justin Verlander (1-3, 4.15)

Strasburg let up two runs over six innings with seven strikeouts in the Game 2 victory, which left him at 5-2 with a 1.34 ERA in his postseason career. He has an astounding 40 strikeouts against two walks across 28 innings in the 2019 playoffs while holding opponents to a .234 average. Astros third baseman Alex Bregman got to Strasburg for a two-run homer in Game 2 before the 31-year-old settled in.

Verlander was locked in a 2-2 tie with Strasburg entering the seventh inning of Game 2, but he served up a tiebreaking home run to Kurt Suzuki and walked the next man before departing and getting charged with four runs overall. He has allowed exactly four runs in three of his last four starts and enters this one at 0-5 with a 5.73 ERA in six career World Series starts. "That would obviously be a moment that ... I would cherish in my career, if that were able to happen," Verlander told reporters when asked about potentially ending his World Series losing streak with a decisive Game 6 triumph.

WALK-OFFS

1. Astros 2B Jose Altuve is batting .360 in the World Series after hitting .350 in the American League Division Series and .348 in the ALCS.

2. The Nationals were 1-for-21 with runners in scoring position in the three straight losses at home.

3. Washington SS Trea Turner went 1-for-14 with three strikeouts and zero walks over the last three games.

PREDICTION: Nationals 4, Astros 3