This is one of the great teams of the 21st century. The Houston Astros have won their 2nd World Series title as their bullpen stifled the Phillies hitters once again in route to a 4-2 series victory.
Like I said, this Astros team is one of the greatest teams ever assembled in the 21st century of baseball. Not only do they have outstanding outfielders that can steal certain home runs and turn them into outs with regularity, but they also have fantastic pitchers that can literally combine to achieve no hitter games.
Oh, and they also have hitters that can smash 5-7 home runs into the stands a night.
Simply put, there’s nothing this Astros team can’t accomplish. And that is why they overcame a late deficit to win their 2nd World Series in five years.
After 5 scoreless, tense innings with both teams just managing to keep the other off the board, the Philadelphia Phillies struck first through their own legend, Kyle Schwaber, in the top of the 6th.
Even though Framber Valdez had a fantastic game with a 1.46 ERA, 9 strikeouts, and only 2 walks, the starting pitcher threw a misguided fastball to Kyle Schwarber, who smashed it deep into the right stands of Minute Maid Park to send every Philly fan in the crowd (which there wasn’t many) into pandemonium as the HR gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead and some hope for a Game 7.
Yet, that was not to be as Zack Wheeler (5.23 ERA, 5 K, 3 H, 2 R), who also had a great game prior to the 6th inning, gave up two singles to Jeremy Pena and Jose Altuve just before he was relieved, putting his reliever, Jose Alvarado, in a pretty tough situation with runners at 1st and 3rd with only one out.
And that tough situation would get a whole lot worse with Yordan Alvarez stepping up to the plate as he smashed a home run into center field, sending himself, Altuve, and Pena home to give the Astros a 3-1 lead. What a way to come into Game 6 of the World Series, huh?
Well, things got a little better for Alvarado as he was immediately pulled by Rob Thompson (yeah, that’s ‘things getting better’) for Seranthony Dominguez…who then gave up an RBI single to Christian Vazquez to push the Astros lead to 4-1. Though, to be honest, I’m blaming Kyle Schwaber for this play as it was his out-fielding error (he couldn’t pick up the ball) that allowed Alex Bregman to run home.
At the end of the day, Schwaber was a bit of a hero and a villain in this game as he did score the Phillies only HR, but he also had a huge error that allowed the Astros to pad their lead and snatch all of the momentum of the game.
Nonetheless, the Astros managed to thwart Bryce Harper and the Phillies batting order in the final three innings to win their second World Series title!
Even though I (along with nearly every single baseball fan that’s not from Houston) despises the 2017 World Series Astros team for cheating, it was a nice scene to watch them win last night. Both teams deserved to win, but after posting a no-hitter, winning a nail-biting Game 5 because of a homerun saving catch, and then winning Game 6 with a 3-run HR, the Astros were the more deserving team of the two.
Plus, it was great to see Jeremy Pena and Dusty Baker win their first World Series titles (well, Baker’s first as a manager). Baker, who’s 73 and at the end of his managerial career, came into that game as the winningest manager in MLB history who had yet to win a World Series, which is a pretty sad achievement to think about.
So, to see him finally break that curse and get bombarded with love and celebrations from his players and staff in the dugout was heartwarming to watch.
As for Pena, he was an absolute sensation these entire playoffs. Coming into the playoffs as a rookie, Pena broke the mold for what was ‘expected from a rookie’ as he powered the Astros to this World Series win, which resulted him winning both the AL and the World Series MVP award. He was the best player by a mile and was more than deserving of all the accolades.
Like I said, it’s too bad that the Phillies couldn’t pull off the Cinderella story. They came into these playoffs as massive underdogs but performed like seasoned champions against division winners, reigning World Series Champions, and just flat-out better teams. Hopefully, the Phillies can stick together and make it back to the World Series as they deserve a title for how great they played against such daunting opponents.
Whew, what a postseason! Congratulations, Houston Astros, you guys are the well-deserving 2022 World Series champions!
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