The Houston Astros are the 2022 World Series champions. The Astros beat the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night to seal the series 4-2. For Houston, François Valdez was nearly flawless until Kyle Schwaber hit a solo homer in the sixth to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. However, the deficit was short-lived. Astros slugger Jordan Alvarez hit a thumping three-run homer off Phillies backup Jose Alvarado in the first half of the sixth quarter at home. That gave Houston a 3-1 lead that locked the bullpen and wouldn’t give up.
In addition to the heroics of Valdez and Alvarez, rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña hit a pair of hits and built on Alvarez’s home run. This marks the Astros’ second World Series title. Another was in 2017, that season the Astros were later found to have illegally stolen the logo.
Now get some takeaways from Houston’s crunch time.
Yordan Alvarez drops a bomb on Philly hopes
Two-on-one, Phillies manager Rob Thomson lifted his ace Zach Wheeler in favor of southpaw Jose Alvarado, who has become one of the Phillies’ top-leverage relievers. one. Alvarado enjoyed a qualifying advantage against the first batsman he faced, Jordan Alvarez, but as you’ll see, it didn’t matter:
Yes, that was a game-changing home run of 450 feet to midfield. Suffice to say, it was a key blast, and it wasn’t the first time this postseason for Alvarez:
When Alvarez played in the sixth inning, the game was basically a 50-50 coin toss. After he touched the ball after a 3-pointer, the Astros had an 84.3 percent chance of winning the game to win the World Series. This is exactly what happened.
Schwaber interrupts pitcher duel, gives Phillies hope
Game 6 starters Framber Valdez and Zack Wheeler went into Game 6 with a game that looked, felt and smelled like a scoreless game about to be handed over to the bullpen. However, when Valdez entered Philadelphia’s lineup for the third time, Schwaber struggled in Game 6. At 2-2, Valdez faced Schwaber with a low post and inside sinker, who turned it around in the first round of the game:
The man left the bat at 107.3 mph and flew 395 feet. Schwaber’s homer was Valdez’s first allowed at Minute Maid Park since July 3, and the southpaw’s second of the year.
It was Schwaber’s third homer in this World Series and his sixth in the 2022 playoffs. Speaking of which, here’s a whole new piece of series history:
Most importantly, though, it gave the Phillies their first lead since Game 3. Unfortunately for the Phillies, that didn’t last long.
Houston’s pitchers excel in final game of series
Pitching depth is the calling card of the Astros’ playoffs, and they mostly play this October and November. That depth dominated the final three games of the series, as Houston’s pitching limited the Phillies’ total to three in Games 4, 5, and 6 (two of which came from Schwaber). singles home run). Of course, Game 4 was a no-hitter for the Astros.
Astros join the next tier of franchise
A Game 6 win means the Astros have become the 21st MLB team to win multiple World Series titles. (Coincidentally, the Phillies also have two). Of course, the Astros haven’t been around that long in the MLB franchise. Their first season was in 1962. Among expansion teams—those formed in the first round of expansions in 1962 or later—no team held more than two championship titles. The Astros now join the Mets, Blue Jays, Marlins and Royals as an expansion team to win multiple championships.
Baker joins elite company and may get a spot in the hall
The Astros captain became the third black manager in MLB history to win a World Series, joining the Blue Jays’ Cito Gaston (1992 and 1993) and the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts (2020).
For a quarter of a century or so, Baker has been winning steadily in the dugout. He won 2,093 games and led five different clubs to division titles and playoff berths. Baker may already be on his way to Cooperstown someday (not to mention his stellar career as a player), and now that he’s won the World Series, he’s sure to get a plaque. Baker won the World Series by five points in 2002 with the Giants. Who would have thought that in 20 years’ time he would have done the job?