All eyes will turn to Houston on Friday night as the hometown Astros head to a fourth World Series in six years and do so in blistering form. With the Philadelphia Phillies a surprise opponent for the Fall Classic, Dusty Baker’s ‘Stros know that they have a wonderful opportunity to finally claim the franchise’s second world title.
They continued their faultless postseason form on Sunday night, twice coming from behind to beat the New York Yankees 6-5 at Yankee Stadium to complete a 4-0 sweep in the American League Championship Series. For the Yankees it was an ignominious end to a season in which they had once threatened to smash win records.
The Bronx Bombers were 61-23 on July 8, on pace for a 118-win season which would have superseded the record of 116 currently held jointly by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners. But after that point the Yankees went 38-40 to end 99-63, and their diminished levels continued into the postseason as they edged past the Cleveland Guardians and then fell without even a whimper to the Astros.
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While the Yankees might point to their weakened bullpen as an explanation for their struggles, the Astros were indiscriminate in their offence, taking the Yanks apart at all times of their four-game sweep. From the moment Yuli Gurriel and Chas McCormick hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning of Game 1 off reliever Clarke Schmidt, they simply never looked back.
Although much of America still has a natural instinct to root against the Astros due to the scandal regarding sign-stealing charges during their run to the 2017 World Series, many baseball fans will be hopeful that the much-loved Baker can finally win his first title as a manager. The 73-year-old has lost on the final stage twice previously, with the San Francisco Giants in 2002 and last year with the Astros, as part of 11 postseason failures in a career spanning back to 1993.
On the other side of the field will be the Phillies, who have upset the odds to reach their first World Series since 2009. Having overcome the St Louis Cardinals away from home in the Wild Card round, they then beat the 101-61 Atlanta Braves in four games and on Sunday completed a 4-1 National League Championship Series win over the 89-win San Diego Padres.
In the new extended playoff format, the Phillies become the first team seeded sixth in their league to reach the World Series, and do so having fired manager Joe Girardi in June with the team 22-29. Rhys Hoskins’ four home runs in the NLCS were key in the Phils overcoming a star-studded Padres lineup, while Kyle Schwarber hit one of the longest homers in recent postseason history in Game 1, the first of three the leftie slugger would land in the series.
But it was left to Bryce Harper to steal the headlines in Game 5. With the Phils trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth and JT Realmuto on first, the 13-year $330 million acquisition landed the kind of pivotal home run he was signed for back in 2019. It was the winning blow, and it also earned Harper the series MVP crown.
Friday night can’t come soon enough for baseball fans. With the swift conclusion of both Championship Series there is plenty of time for build-up, but the likes of Harper, Schwarber, Gurriel and Jose Altuve will be ready to steal headlines.
This could be one of the best World Series in years.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
