This is where the lack of a deep bullpen hurts the Nationals. A deeper relief corps could have kept the game within striking distance. But it all started to go downhill when Tanner Rainey — who, like Josh James, throws hard and strikes out many but also walks many — walked Kyle Tucker and George Springer to start the frame. He got one out before being replaced with Fernando Rodney.
Rodney coughed up a single to Michael Brantley and then threw a fastball low and in to Alex Bregman, who had been relatively quiet this World Series. Bregman kept his swing compact and direct, blistering the pitch over left field wall for a grand slam.