HOUSTON — It had been exactly five months since Gerrit Cole took a loss in a baseball game, a period in which he strung together 19 victories in one of the most remarkable streaks the game has seen.

It got to the point where fans of the Houston Astros almost felt a sense of entitlement, that every time Cole took the mound he would win. For much of the season that was the case, but the expiration date on his streak came at a most inopportune time.

The Washington Nationals, behind an effective performance from their own ace, Max Scherzer, stunned the Astros, 5-4, to win Game 1 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park.

It was the first World Series victory for a Washington team since the 1933 Senators, an American League club, won Game 4 of that year’s Fall Classic. They lost the Series to the New York Giants in five games and did not return to the postseason before moving to Minnesota to become the Twins in 1961.