Juan Soto homered onto the train tracks high above the left field wall and hit a two-run double as the Nationals tagged Gerrit Cole and the Houston Astros 5-4 Tuesday night in the World Series opener.

Ryan Zimmerman homered to back a resourceful Max Scherzer and boost the wild-card Nationals in their first World Series appearance.

Trea Turner singled on the second pitch of the game and the Nationals were off and running, ending Cole's 19-game winning streak that stretched back 25 starts to May.

Soto finished with three hits and a stolen base.

The MVP when Houston won its first crown in 2017, Springer set a record by connecting in his fifth straight Series game to make it 5-3 in the seventh. But reliever Daniel Hudson threw a fastball past rookie Yordan Alvarez with the bases loaded to end the inning.

In the eighth, Springer put a charge into a drive to deep right-center, and it appeared as though he might've hit a tying, two-run homer. Springer took a couple of hops out of the batter's box to watch, and had to settle for an RBI double when the ball glanced off the glove of a leaping Adam Eaton at the fence.

Heavily favored at the start, the 107-win Astros will try to get even Wednesday night when Verlander faces Stephen Strasburg in another matchup of aces.