Doug Mills/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Houston Astros spent the summer in a race to win more games than any other team in baseball to secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason — only to squander it in stunning fashion by losing the first two games of the World Series.
But facing the possibility that their season could end in bleak disappointment this weekend, the resilient Astros came on the road, of all places, and took that advantage back.
Behind an unexpectedly dominating performance by starting pitcher Jose Urquidy, a rookie from Mazatlán, Mexico, and a grand slam by Alex Bregman that blew the game open in the seventh inning, the Astros beat the Washington Nationals, 8-1, in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday and sent a wave of dread through the nation’s capital.