Fall Classic all back to even

WASHINGTON – Jose Urquidy outpitched all those big-name aces who preceded him, the unheralded Houston rookie quieting Washington's bats and the Nationals Park crowd, too.

Houston and Washington are tied in a World Series that has been one big road show.

Alex Bregman busted out of his slump with an RBI single in the first inning and a grand slam in the seventh, and the resurgent Astros routed the Nationals 8-1 Saturday night to tie the Series at two games apiece.

"There was a lot of noise around losing the first two games, and rightfully so, because the Nats had outplayed us," Houston manager AJ Hinch said. "We turned it around and outplayed them for a couple games, and now we have a three-game Series."

Game 1 winner Max Scherzer takes the mound Sunday hoping to get a home Series victory for Washington for the first time since the Senators in 1933. In a rematch of the opener, Gerrit Cole goes for Houston after losing for the first time since May. Game 6 will be Tuesday night in Houston.

Yuli Gurriel also drove in a run in the first as Houston strung together four singles in a seven-pitch span for a 2-0 lead off Patrick Corbin. Robinson Chirinos homered for the second day in a row, a two-run drive that boosted the lead to 4-0 in the fourth.

Fans started leaving in the seventh, when the Astros sent 10 batters to the plate. Bregman, who began the night in a 1-for-13 World Series slide, had the big blow, driving a fastball from 42-year-old Fernando Rodney into the stands.

Starting pitchers were the talk of the Series coming in, with Washington's Stephen Strasburg, Scherzer and Corbin combining for 12 All-Star selections and three Cy Young Awards. Houston's Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke shine with 17 All-Star picks, two Cy Youngs and one MVP.

But there were only five 1-2-3 innings by starters in the first three games, and the most consecutive outs were by the Nationals' Anibal Sanchez, who retired seven in a row in Friday's Game 3.

Urquidy, a 24-year-old rookie from Mexico, exceeded them all, giving up only two hits in five scoreless innings. He wasn't even announced as a starter until after Game 3, with Hinch hoping to piece together innings any way he could.

Urquidy began the year at Class AA Corpus Christi, was bumped up to Class AAA Round Rock in May and made his major league debut in July. He joined Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Jaime Garcia (2011) as the only Mexican starting pitchers in World Series history.