The World Series opener between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros narrowly averted setting a record low.
Washington's 5-4 victory Tuesday night averaged 12,194,000 fans, according to national numbers from Nielsen. That edges the 12,191,000 who tuned in for San Francisco's 7-1 win over Kansas City in the 2014 opener.
The numbers are down 11.4% from last year's Game 1 between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, which averaged 13.76 million viewers. The 2017 opener between Houston and LA averaged 14.7 million.
The game Tuesday still won the night for Fox.