As for the Stros vs Nats

The 2 top pitchers are similar:

Scherzer has a career 3.20 ERA with a WHIP of 1.09, 3 Cy Young awards 2 in a row.
Stasburg has a career 3.17 ERA with a WHIP of 1.09

Both big strikeout pitchers that were able to get it done this year against the best NL hitting team the dodgers.

Cole has a career 3.22 ERA with a WHIP of 1.13
Verlander has a career 3.33 ERA with a WHIP of 1.14 1 Cy Young award

The reality is one of the Stros will win that award this year. Strasburg is in the running for the NL this year. They just happen to also have a couple of Dodgers that are great in the regular season but no so much in the playoffs.

So the career stats show again similar level. This year the AL had 7 of 10 teams in the bottom power rankings and they had 1 team that did not win 50 games and another 2 under 60 wins. Where as the NL had 1 team that had 57 and the next worst had 69 wins. So 2 teams under 70 wins. The AL had 5 teams that were horrible this year.

As a Dodger fan I can't discount what the Stros can do and the starting pitchers they have. I was so frustrated 2 years ago when we did not go after Verlander and instead ended up signing Darvish who was pathetic in the WS. If the Stros get passed the Yankee's it will be fun to see those pitchers match up and see which team can score a couple of runs.