Alex Bregman Blames Himself and Vows to Sleep With His Bat, Kyle Tucker Has a Moment and Juan Soto Turns Into a World Series Terminator

The pink Hardens do not help Alex Bregman. Sometimes, it’s definitely not the shoes. Bregman looks plenty cool before the World Series begins, but once it does, his bat fails him. Forget those new kicks. Alex Bregman just wants to kick himself.

“I’ve been terrible this postseason,” Bregman says, his back against the front wall of the Houston Astros clubhouse.

On a night when George Springer continues to build his postseason legend, a night when the Washington Nationals’ own 20-year-old phenom goes supernova, the American League regular season MVP favorite is left searching.

“Better take my bat home, sleep with it, figure it out,” Bregman says, before actually leaving the clubhouse for the night with his bat in tow.

No matter what Bregman ends up sleeping with on Tuesday night, he does not figure to rest easy with the Astros needing to repeat what they pulled off in the American League Championship in Game 2 of the World Series Wednesday night. Bregman and Co. must win to avoid falling down 0-2 in a series heading to a dangerous East Coast opponent’s home.

“I feel like it’s a must win,” Correa says of Game 2. “That’s how we’re feeling right now. I feel like we have to come (Wednesday), show up and win this game.”

Game 1 ends in a 5-4 Astros loss, Gerrit Cole’s first loss in 26 starts. It includes Springer homering in his fifth straight World Series game — and coming a matter of feet from hitting a second home run. “Just so good, man,” Astros lifeline Jose Altuve says of Springer. “He’s going to get rewarded at some point.”

The 30-year-old Springer will be looking at a huge payday when he finally hits free agency after the 2020 season — if not before then. But Juan Soto, the Nats star who is 10 years younger than Springer, will be the most coveted player in all of baseball some day. That’s what driving in three of your team’s five runs in a World Series game while batting cleanup before your old enough to legally drink can do for you.

Soto essentially wrecks the Astros by himself — and almost everyone associated with the organization can see that. Sometimes Game 1 isn’t much more complicated than that.

“That’s Juan being Juan,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez says.

On a night when Soto plays superman, 22-year-old Astros super prospect Kyle Tucker grabs a little World Series moment of his own. Pinch hitting in the bottom of the eighth inning, Tucker laces a 95 MPH fastball from elite Nationals reliever Daniel Hudson into an open patch of grass for a leadoff single. Tucker takes second on an Aledmys Diaz fly out and scores on Springer’s double off the wall.

In fact, it looks like Tucker has kickstarted another bit of Astros’ October magic.

“We always have confidence we’re going to come back,” Tucker tells PaperCity. “Anyone in this lineup, one through nine, can put a run on the board.”

Springer almost puts two up instead of one when he drives in Tucker to make it 5-4. “We were inches away from tying the game,” Correa says.

Instead, Tucker’s moment becomes a footnote — but one that could pay off in all kinds of ways down the road. After openly admitting he did not know much he’d get to play in the World Series at the Fall Classic’s Media Day just the afternoon before, Tucker gets that first World Series at-bat that every baseball loving kid dreams of in Game 1. And delivers.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Tucker says of the moment. “But I’d rather have the win.”

The Astros’ fifth World Series win in franchise history will have to wait for at least one more night. That’s what happens when you get Sotoed.

Alex Bregman and the New Terminator

Cole comes into the night having allowed one run in three playoff starts. He leaves it, cursing the wunderkind skills of Juan Soto. The 20-year-old Nats phenom hits a 96 MPH Cole fastball into deep left center, almost dinging the Astros’ gold 2017 World Series Championship pennant, in the fourth inning. He slams a 89 MPH Cole slider off the out-of-town scoreboard for a louder than loud double in the fifth inning.

Soto looks like a more powerful version of Gleyber Torres in Game 1 of the ALCS in the process. He’s scarier than the new Terminator.

“I mean, he’s really talented,” Cole says when someone asks what makes Juan Soto so tough to pitch to.

On a night when Minute Maid Park is roaring under its closed roof (on a picture perfect Houston October night), a night that has J.J. Watt screaming out play ball and Deshaun Watson in the crowd too, the good kind of drama is all on the other side.

For the second straight series, the Astros will start in a 1-0 hole. For the second straight series, the Astros need to change everything in Game 2.

Nothing has come particularly easy for the Astros these playoffs. Do you expect the World Series to be any different?

“I want the nerves,” Hinch says. “I want our guys to be a little bit on edge. We’re playing in the World Series. It should feel like something special.

“… I kind of dig seeing a bunch of guys that are successful. They’re big, big personalities. We’ve all got egos — we’re in the Big Leagues. Be nervous, man. Enjoy it.”

Bregman is putting the pressure on himself to seize the moment on baseball’s biggest stage. Game 1 of the World Series turns out to be the first game all season — and postseason — when he strikes out three times. He still gets the “MVP! MVP! MVP!” chants whenever he steps to the plate from the adoring Minute Maid Park crowd. Every Astros fan seems to love themselves some Alex Bregman.

But the scraper turned superstar wants to start feeling better about himself. The man who hit 41 home runs in the regular season knows better than anyone that he is stuck at one dinger in 12 playoff games this October. He So he vows to sleep with his damn bat, girlfriend concerns no matter.

And he beats up on himself a little more.

“I need to get in the video room, get in the cage and figure it out,” Bregman says. “For me, personally, I’ve just been horrible mechanically.”

This is someone who got upset with himself after hitting two home runs in a May game. You can imagine what Alex Bregman is feeling now.

This is how the World Series goes. You’re either an October hero or not. Bregman’s night ends with him looking at a fastball practically right down the middle from Nationals closer Sean Doolittle that makes it a 2-2 count. Bregman will strike out swinging a pitch later, the opportunity gone.

Alex Bregman wants the burden. He’ll take it on — and maybe take a bat to bed. Does the bat get its own pillow at least? Cover privileges?

Sometimes Game 2 really can’t get here fast enough.