HOUSTON — Kurt Suzuki smacked a tie-breaking home run, and the Washington Nationals took complete advantage of a seventh-inning collapse by the Houston Astros to post a 12-3 victory in Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday.

The Nationals swept the first two games of the best-of-seven set at Minute Maid Park, and now they head home for Game 3 on (Saturday, Manila time), Game 4 on (Sunday) and (if necessary) Game 5 on (Monday).

Suzuki, 1-for-23 with nine strikeouts this postseason entering Wednesday, clubbed a leadoff homer off Astros starter Justin Verlander (0-1) to ignite a six-run seventh inning. The blast broke a 2-2 tie that had existed since the first inning.

Houston fall apart soon thereafter, with Verlander issuing a walk to No. 9 hitter Victor Robles before third baseman Alex Bregman failed to make two plays behind reliever Ryan Pressly.

After Astros manager AJ Hinch called for the team’s first intentional walk of the year, putting on Nationals slugger Juan Soto to load the bases with two outs, Bregman mishandled a ground ball off the bat of Howie Kendrick. Robles scored to stretch the Washington lead to 4-2 on a ball that was ruled a single.

Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a two-run single before Bregman added a throwing error when Ryan Zimmerman rolled an infield single up the third base line. Kendrick and Cabrera scored as the stunned and partisan crowd of 43,357 fell silent.

Before the Nationals seized control, it was more of the same offensively for the Astros. Bregman slugged a two-run, game-tying homer with two outs in the bottom of the first, but that proved to be the lone damaging blow off Stephen Strasburg (1-0). The Nationals right-hander needed 114 pitches to complete six innings yet allowed just two runs on seven hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

After finishing 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position in Game 1, the Astros managed just five such at-bats in Game 2. They came up empty in each and stranded nine baserunners total.

Verlander settled in after a rocky first inning of his own, a frame that included a two-run double by Anthony Rendon. Verlander allowed just one additional baserunner to reach scoring position prior to the seventh, and he had 98 pitches on his ledger entering that fateful frame. When Suzuki recorded his second hit of the night, momentum swung decidedly in favor of Washington, which stretched its postseason winning streak to eight.

Verlander wound up charged with four runs on seven hits and three walks in six-plus innings. He struck out six. — Reuters

IN AN EFFORT to sustain the growth of the Philippine esports industry, gaming network meta.us encourages more brands to invest in the space and support amateur players through its online platform.

Esports is now the biggest marketing draw in the global entertainment stage, overtaking television last year and already double the value attracted by digital music and film box office combined.

Global brands such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Mercedes-Benz have already entered the fray given that 75% of the market demographic is comprised of people below the age of 35, and about half comprised of ages between 21 to 35.

Beyond multinational companies, there is also money available for team and event sponsorships from regional and local brands who want to get into esports but are challenged as they are not familiar with esports and gaming.

Alan Chou, chief executive and co-founder of meta.us, is trying to bridge that gap, as his company connects brands with esports sponsorship opportunities.

“Brands want to reach the esports demographic but need transparency and confidence in the vendors they select and assurance that they will get an ROI. Our platform meta.us is built to do exactly that,” said Mr. Chou.

With more than a decade in the gaming and esports business — first at Microsoft Xbox and later as the Director of Publishing for Southeast Asia at Blizzard, Mr. Chou has a unique insight into the needs of both players and teams, and of brands.

Over those years, Mr. Chou observed that it is difficult for players, tournament organizers and brands to connect with each other, limiting opportunities for esports talent to play consistently and reach their full potential.

“The discovery and development of talent is an area that is missing in esports and we would like to address that with mass amateur leagues that give a systematic way for players to play, get better, and develop a track record of performance,” said Mr. Chou.

That requires money and ultimately, Mr. Chou said, meta.us wants to help drive the cash flow that would ensure the economic and financial sustainability of esports as an industry.

“Where do we think that money is going to come from? One source is brands or companies sponsoring teams and competitions, but there is also potential in monetizing content,” he said.

The audience for esports is growing. According to Newzoo, a leading provider of games and esports analytics, the projected global viewership for esports this year will be 453.8 million, which is likely to grow about 15% annually.

And that steadily increasing audience is what inspires Mr. Chou and his company to push forward.

“Our ultimate vision is to provide young people who are passionate about esports with an opportunity to live their dream of getting discovered,” he said.

Newzoo estimated that for this year, esports will see a 9.6% increase in revenues of $152 billion.