Houston Astros win the World Series

For the second time in franchise history, the Houston Astros are baseball’s World Champions after a 4-1 game six victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at a packed Minute Maid Park Saturday night.

Slugger Yordan Alvarez hit a 3-run homer in the 6^th inning and starting pitcher Framber Valdez pitched six strong innings in the win as Houston took the last three games of the series, shutting down the hot bats that got Phillies to the World Series as a surprise Wild Card team.

On a perfect night in Houston, the ballpark, with the roof closed, erupted as closer Ryan Pressly recorded the last out, with a sea of fans, dressed mostly in orange, celebrating the first World Championship since the Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017. Houston has been to the World Series in four out of the past six seasons.

Houston bounced back from several shaky games earlier in the series, including game three when starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. gave up a World Series record five home runs in a 7-0 loss. Game five featured a historic combined no-hitter by four Astros pitchers in a 5-0 win in Philadelphia. It was the first World Series no-hitter since New York Yankee Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 World Series.

Valdez, starting his second game of the series, gave up one run and two hits and struck out nine Phillies in the win. Jeremy Pena, Houston’s rookie shortstop, added two hits and batted .400 for the series, sparking the Astros offense. Pena was named the Most Valuable Player of the series, and was a solid presence in the infield all season after replacing shortstop Carlos Correa, who left Houston via free agency in the offseason.

Fans celebrated in the downtown streets after the win, soaking in one of the city’s biggest sports moments. With a robust security presence all around Minute Maid Park, the celebration stretched into the cool November night.

Houston was the favorite headed into the World Series, but the upstart Phillies didn’t make it easy. The Astros won 106 games in the regular season and were the American League’s top seed headed into the playoffs. Philadelphia won just 87 games in the regular season and slipped into the post-season as the last Wild Card team.