Astros win 2022 World Series: Houston takes second title as Yordan Alvarez’s Game 6 homer ousts Phillies

The Houston Astros are World Series champions for 2022. The Astros beat the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night in Game 6, 4-1, and in doing so took the series by a four-game tally against of them. For Houston, Framber Valdez was nearly clear until he allowed a sixth-inning solo homer to Kyle Schwarber that gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The deficit, however, was short-lived. In the home half of the sixth, Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez created a booming three-run home run against Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado that gave Houston a 3-1 lead than the bullpen. lock would not give up.

Adding to the heroics of Valdez and Alvarez, rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña notched a pair of hits and was on base for Alvarez’s homer. This is the second World Series title for the Astros franchise. The other came in 2017, a season the Astros were later found to have illegally stolen signs.

Now some takeout from the clincher in Houston.

Yordan Alvarez dropped a bombshell on Philadelphia hopefuls

With two outs and one out, Phillies manager Rob Thomson raised his ace Zack Wheeler in favor of powerful southpaw Jose Alvarado, who has become one of the Phils’ go-to relievers. Alvarado took advantage of the field advantage against the first batter he faced, Yordan Alvarez, but as you’ll see, it didn’t matter much:

Yeah, that’s a game-changing 450-foot home run to center field. Suffice it to say, it’s a clutch blast, and it’s not the first time for Alvarez this postseason:

When Alvarez entered the plate in sixth, the game was basically a 50-50 coin toss. After hitting the plate after his three-point outburst, the Astros had an 84.3% chance of winning the game and therefore the World Series. This is precisely what happened.

Schwarber broke up a pitcher’s duel and gave the Phillies hope

Game 6 starters Framber Valdez and Zack Wheeler entering Game 6 had faced off, and it looked, felt and smelt like one of those games that would be handed to the relievers as a scoreless tie. Schwarber, however, was in no accommodating mood going into the top of the sixth, as Valdez dove into Philly’s lineup for the third time. With a 2-2 count, Valdez faced Schwarber with a low, inside lead, and Schwarber knocked him down for the first inning of the match:

That one left the bat at 107.3 mph and traveled 395 feet. Schwarber was Valdez’s first allowed home run at Minute Maid Park since July 3, and it’s only the second time a southpaw has hit him all year.

It was Schwarber’s third homer of this World Series and sixth homer of the 2022 playoffs. Speaking of which, here’s a bit of series history:

More importantly, it gave the Phillies their first lead since Game 3. Unfortunately for Philly, that didn’t last.

The Houston pitcher was elite in the final games of the series

Throwing depth was the Astros’ playoff calling card, and they played extensively to tap in October and November. That depth gave dominance over the final three games of this series, as Houston’s throw limited the Phillies to a total of three runs in games 4, 5 and 6 combined (two of those runs came on home runs in Schwarber’s solo). Game 4, of course, resulted in a combined no-hitter for the Astros.

The Astros have joined the next tier of franchises

The Game 6 victory means the Astros became the 21st MLB franchise to win multiple World Series titles. (The Phillies, coincidentally, also have two). Of course, the Astros haven’t been around that long in terms of an MLB franchise. Their first season was in 1962. Of the expansion franchises—that is, those founded during this first expansion cycle in 1962 or later—no team has more than two titles. The Astros now join the Mets, Blue Jays, Marlins and Royals as expansion teams to win multiple titles.

Baker joined an elite company and probably got a place in the Hall

The Astros skipper becomes the third black manager in MLB history to win the World Series, as he joins Cito Gaston of the Blue Jays (1992 and 1993) and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers (2020).

Baker has been a consistent winning presence in the dugout for about a quarter of a century. He has 2,093 wins to his name and he has led five different clubs to division titles and playoff berths. Baker probably should have been on his way to Cooperstown one day by now (and that’s to say nothing of his damn fine playing career), and now that he’s won a World Series, he’s surely bound to a plate. Baker came five shots away from winning a World Series with the Giants in 2002. Who would have guessed that 20 years later he would finish the job?