The first two Washington hitters fouled out, and the Nationals managed just two hits and no walks in Urquidy’s five innings. When the Nationals expected a changeup, outfielder Adam Eaton said, Urquidy threw sliders instead. He finished his outing by retiring the last nine hitters he faced.
“Maybe he doesn’t have the Max Scherzer or Gerrit Cole name, but he’s got good stuff,” Washington shortstop Trea Turner said. “He’s throwing 95 and three pitches in any count. He pitched great.”
Urquidy became the second Mexico-born starter to win a World Series game, following a much more heralded rookie: Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in 1981. Valenzuela was a phenomenon that season, winning the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards while captivating Southern California. Urquidy, in just his eighth major league start, now stands alone beside him.
“That means a lot for me,” Urquidy said. “To be the second Mexican player to win a World Series game is something special. I think this is now history, right? I feel very special for that.”
A reliever from Mexico, Aurelio Lopez, also won a World Series game, for Detroit in 1984. Lopez had a classic baseball nickname, Señor Smoke — though Urquidy probably throws harder. In Game 4, he fanned Juan Soto, Howie Kendrick and Ryan Zimmerman with fastballs at 95 or 96 miles an hour, and has improved his velocity since the Astros signed him at age 19 in 2015, attracted more to his polish than his heat.
“He was pitching at the stadium in Monterrey, and you just don’t see guys that have that kind of command, that kind of poise and those secondary pitches at a young age,” said Oz Ocampo, a special assistant to the Astros’ general manager who was then the team’s international scouting director.