The Houston Astros won the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, November 5th, winning the series 4 games to 2. The series win proved that the Astros are indeed one of the strongest teams in recent memory getting redemption from recent disappointments and setting numerous records along the way. But before we get into what happened in the series and how the Astros triumphed, let’s look at how these two teams got here.

The Astros entered the World Series for the third time in five years, having won their first and only championship in 2017 -a victory some consider tainted due to a sign-stealing scandal- and lost to the Braves last year. Coming into the series against the Phillies, the Astros were undefeated in the playoffs as they swept their American League opponents, the Seattle Mariners, and the New York Yankees, in the divisional round and championship series. The Astros had the best record in the American League during the regular season, which put them into the playoffs as the top seed in the bracket.

The Phillies, who won the World Series in 2008 and last advanced in 2009 where they lost to the Yankees, looked to win their third overall title against the Astros.  The Phillies had a tough road to the series as they had to first win the National League Wild Card series, which they did in two games against the St. Louis Cardinals, then they had to beat the defending World Series champion Braves, which they did in four games, and, finally, the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series, which they took in five games.

The World Series kicked off in Houston in Minute Maid Park on October 28th. The Astros, specifically right fielder Kyle Tucker, came out hot as he hit a home run in the second inning and again an inning later, becoming the biggest parts of an eventual 5-0 lead.  However, the Phillies rallied back, capitalizing off of Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and by the end of the fifth inning the game was tied. The Astros seemed to have sealed a win when eventual World Series MVP rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña hit a drive to right field that would score a runner on base, but the Phillies’ Nick Castellanos made a spectacular catch forcing the game into extra innings. In the 10th inning Phillies’ catcher J.T Realmuto quickly blasted a home run giving the Phillies the lead and they never looked back,  as they took game one, 6-5. 

Game two started similarly except quicker. In the very first inning, second-baseman José Altuve, Peña, and left-fielder Yordan Álvarez all made their way around the bases to stake the Astros to a 3-0 lead. This quick scoring outburst made the Astros become the first-ever team in the World Series to start a game with three straight XBH (extra-base hits). Then in the fifth inning third-baseman Alex Bregman hit a two-run home run making it, again, a five-nothing lead for the Astros. Thanks to an excellent performance by Astros pitcher Framber Valdez, Houston held on this time 5-2, and the series was tied and the Astros had rebounded from the disappointment the night before.

For game three, the two teams traveled to Philadelphia, where they had a day off before the game on Halloween night. However, Mother Nature had other plans and game 3 was rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday, November 1st.  The delay didn’t stop the Phillies’ homecoming however as they had an extremely dominant performance in Citizens Bank Park winning 7-0, The Phillies crushed five home runs as designated hitter Bryce Harper, third-baseman Alec Bohm, center fielder Brandon Marsh, left fielder Kyle Schwarber, and first-baseman Rhys Hoskins got the Phils back into the series lead, 2-1. 

Game four featured great pitching by Cristian Javier and Aaron Nola for the Astros and the Phillies, respectively. Both pitchers were dominant early and kept the game scoreless until the fifth inning when the Astros’ bats came alive and they scored five runs to take a 5-0 lead that they would not relinquish as they took the game and tied the series at 2 games each. Game four will really be remembered for the Astros as they made history by getting the second-ever no-hitter (and first-ever combined no-hitter) in a World Series, which last happened in 1956 when the Yankees’ Don Larsen pitched a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. With their dominant performance on the mound and at

the plate, the Astros put themselves in a position to make a push for the title starting in game 5.

Game five started quickly again with Altuve doubling to lead the game off and making it to third on an error before Peña hit a single to bring him home. The Phillies answered back in the bottom of the inning as Schwarber hit a solo home run to tie the game 1-1 by the end of the first. The Phillies had a chance to take a commanding lead in the bottom of the second as Hoskins came to bat with the bases loaded but was denied by Verlander who struck him out. What wasn’t denied however was Peña’s solo home run breaking the tie in the fourth inning to stake the Astros to a 2-1 lead. The game took a strange turn in the seventh inning as Astros first-baseman Yuli Gurriel’s night ended after he was run over by Hoskins as he was making an effort not to get tagged by running back and forth in between third base and home plate. It turned out Gurriel suffered a knee injury and would not return in the series. Just as in game one, a great play ended what could have been a game-changing moment – this time for the Phillies. In the bottom of the ninth with his team up 3-2, Astros center fielder Chas McCormick made one of the biggest plays in the series as he made a running catch along the wall of a deep drive by Realmuto to close out the game and give the Astros their first lead in the series, 3 games to 2. The win meant that Houston would have a chance to clinch the World Series at home.

The two teams returned to Houston for game six, and the Phillies got another big hit from Schwarber, who again hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth to give them a 1-0 lead. However, in the bottom of the sixth Altuve and Peña landed on first and third before Alvarez came up and blasted a three-run home run off of Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado on his very first pitch to give the Astros a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish. The final out came as Tucker caught a pop-up in foul territory for the last out, and the Astros won game six 4-1 to take the World Series, which hadn’t been won at home since the Boston Red Sox in 2013 against the Cardinals.

So, the Astros celebrated their second World Series title, and manager Dusty Baker, who won the 1981 World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers, claimed the title for the first time in his 25 years as a manager. Peña won the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player award and became the first rookie position player to do so (and third rookie ever). He also won the American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player award making him the

second-ever rookie to win both (and the ninth player ever to do it). In Houston, the celebrations have just begun.