HOUSTON -- After stewarding his club past the exceptional bullpens of the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees en route to a second American League pennant in three seasons, Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch was asked if he preferred the Washington Nationals' more traditional approach.

Washington starters Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin logged a combined 26 2/3 innings in the Nationals' four-game dismantling of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, leaving their bullpen just 9 1/3 innings to cover.

The presumption is Houston will face more of the same when it hosts the Nationals in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday. Scherzer (2-0, 1.80 ERA this postseason) will start against the favored Astros in the Nationals' first-ever World Series contest.