When Yordan Alvarez hit the game-winning home run, Dusty Baker knew the Astros had won the World Series.
As the 42,958 fans at Houston’s Minute Maid Park began fantasizing about a World Series parade, Alvarez’s three-run round-tripper made Phillies manager Rob Thomson’s job even more complex on Saturday night in Houston. He had just removed starter Zack Wheeler, who had been outstanding through 5.1 innings, from the game in favor of Jose Alvarado, one of his best pitchers out of the bullpen.
Alvarado dropped a 99-mph sinker right over the plate for Alvarez to crush to the moon.
The lefty-lefty matchup went wrong.
As the ball sailed 450 feet to center field, over the head of Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado, the Astros had time to relax. The ball soared over sprinting center fielder Matt Vierling, and finally into the stands.
“It’s just sheer joy and thankfulness,” Baker told MLB.com. “It’s not relief at all. I mean, because everybody was talking about it more than I was even thinking about it. So I always said before that if I win one, I’ll win two, but you got to win one first.”
With Saturday’s 4-1 victory in Game 6, one of baseball’s most fearsome hitters put an end to the Phillies’ hopes and pushed Houston to their second World Series title in six years. Later, MLB announced that Alvarez’s bat would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Alvarez stepped to the plate in his third at-bat of the night after hitting 37 home runs during the regular season but only two in the postseason. He hadn’t hit a home run in three weeks, ten games, or 42 at-bats since a two-run blast off Mariner’s righty Luis Castillo in Game 2 of the ALDS on October 13. In this World Series, Alvarez had faced Alvarado three times, with two pop flies and one hit by pitch.
Throughout the game, the stadium and the Astros fans appeared to be on the verge of exploding. Throughout the series, Alvarez seemed to be waiting for that big hit. Both came to fruition during a magnificent and awe-inspiring sixth inning that put the Astros just nine outs away from a second championship.
Alvarez immediately realized what he had done. As he beat his chest and locked eyes with his teammates in the Astros dugout, the cheating storyline attached to the Houston organization was on its way out.
No one could deny this team’s talent after Alvarez’s three-run home run, Framber Valdez’s outstanding Game 6 performance, and everything the Astros had gone through to get here.
Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker recorded the final out just over three hours after Game 6’s first pitch — a pop-out of Nick Castellanos that landed in foul territory. First baseman Trey Mancini engulfed Tucker in a joyful, leaping embrace. Alvarez charged onto the diamond from left field, raising his arms and smiling.
The Astros’ coaches and staff huddled around their captain, chanting, “Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!” The crowd, waving orange towels, erupted to its loudest decibel level yet.
Soon after the confetti started flying, rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena was named World Series MVP, becoming the first rookie in World Series history to earn a hit in every game.
Pena becomes the first rookie shortstop in MLB history to hit a homer in a World Series game in Game 5. Pena was already the ALCS MVP when he won it again on the biggest stage in baseball.
Pena accomplished a lot as a rookie, especially after being tasked with taking over for Correa. This postseason, however, Pena established his own legacy. And it mirrored the winning strategy of the Astros.
“This is special,” Pena told Mlb.com.
Similarly, the Astros attempted to ignore the abuse after the sign-stealing scandal win in the World Series in 2017 was revealed. Now, Houston has won a championship that isn’t a tainted scandal. The trash cans and illegal video cameras of 2017 will be remembered forever, but for now, they’re fading into the background.
This trophy will be remembered for Alvarez’s swing, Pean’s historic rookie postseason, the club’s unbeatable pitching staff, and Baker’s first World Series ring after managing major-league teams for a quarter-century.
