HOUSTON — George Springer greeted Tanner Rainey with a home run leading off the seventh inning, cutting the Houston Astros’ deficit to 5-3 against the Washington Nationals in the World Series opener.

Washington held on for a 5-4 victory Tuesday night.

Springer added a run-scoring double off te center field fence in the eighth — narrowly missing a game-tying homer. Springer set a record by homering in his fifth straight World Series game, breaking a record he had shared with Lou Gehrig and Reggie Jackson.

Washington’s Max Scherzer allowed five hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in five innings. He threw 112 pitches, his most this postseason.

Gerrit Cole pitched seven innings for Houston before leaving the game trailing by three. The Houston Astros right-hander hasn’t lost a game since May 22.

Juan Soto, the 20-year-old for the Nationals already with a big solo homer, added a two-run double off the left field wall in the fifth inning as the Nationals took a 5-2 lead.