The Washington Nationals are hosting the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the World Series. Follow our live updates and analysis throughout.
Fifth inning (in progress — Astros 3, Nationals 1)
José Altuve smacked a one-out double into left and, when Michael Brantley poked a single through the right side, Altuve sprinted home. One inning after the Nationals had a chance to tie, the Astros moved the goal posts.




Aníbal Sánchez eventually got out of a two-on, two-out jam, but he continued to feud with home-plate umpire Gary Cederstrom. The ump is not giving him the low strike call to a pitcher who lives at the knees. You can blame poor framing by catcher Kurt Suzuki, but the results have hampered Sánchez from getting ahead in counts and, particularly against Brantley, hurt. Two missed strike calls gave Brantley a 3-1 count before his run-scoring single.
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Fourth inning (Astros 2, Nationals 1)
Aníbal Sánchez navigated the fourth without a problem, retiring the 7-8-9 hitters in order. But he’s undoubtedly looked shakier than normal, and there might be an explanation.
Manager Dave Martinez says Sánchez needs to stay down in the strike zone to succeed, he attributed the starter’s post-May resurgence this season to an ability to stay down. But the veteran right-hander has stayed up in the zone all Friday night against the Astros.
Ryan Zimmerman walked and, for the first time, the Nationals came through. Victor Robles tripled down the left field line to trim the deficit to 2-1.



Then it got interesting. With one out and a runner on third, Manager Dave Martinez let Aníbal Sánchez bat for himself. The situation normally might have called for a pinch-hitter — maximize the chance to score — but Martinez let his pitcher hit, possibly because his already-thin bullpen would have had to cover five innings. Sánchez was providing serviceable work from the mound and, at 65 pitches, still has at least a couple innings left in him. The gamble didn’t pay off.