Astros win their first World Series with convincing 5-1 win over Dodgers in Game 7

Things started going awry for the Dodgers early in Game 7, and they couldn’t find a way to right the ship and win the World Series for the first time in 29 years.

Instead, the Astros took home their first World Series since the franchise started in 1962 by beating LA 5-1 on their own field. Winning it in Houston might have been sweeter, but something makes me think they don’t particularly care where they lift the trophy postgame, just that they lifted it at all.

A lot happened in Game 7, which seems right since it was a Game 7 after all. If a Game 7 can’t be a little crazy then what are we doing here?

Yu Darvish got pulled after just 1 ²⁄₃ innings for the second game in a row, and gave up five runs (four earned) while he was at it. Lance McCullers only lasted 2 ¹⁄₃ innings for the Astros. Clayton Kershaw pitched four shutout innings, letting up only two hits and striking out four Houston batters. Brandon Morrow, Chris Devenski, and Francisco Liriano all pitched one out for their respective teams.

The Astros won it with Charlie Morton pitching four innings in relief and didn’t use a closer. Morton ended up getting the win instead of the save, and didn’t allow a baserunner for the last three innings of the game. Kenley Jansen, Alex Wood, and Brad Peacock all made appearances as well.

And that was just the pitching!

George Springer set or tied home run and extra-base hit records. Cody Bellinger set the record for most strikeouts in one series with 17, breaking the one Aaron Judge just set in the ALDS this October. Alex Bregman, who is not allowed to make fielding mistakes at this point, made a mistake.

Springer was the first one to cross the plate, after a Bregman single and an error brought him home in the first inning. Then Altuve sent Bregman around from second with a fielder’s choice to first base.

Houston’s starter McCullers had an RBI as well, scoring Brian McCann on a single in the second inning to make it 3-0. Then George Springer hit a two-run homer to make it 5-0 and that was pretty much all she wrote. It wouldn’t have felt right if the final game wasn’t blessed by a Springer Dinger — his fifth of the series.

The Dodgers got their only run in the sixth inning with an Andre Ethier single, scoring Pederson. The final innings of the game were anticlimactic in a way but still stressful because this series is no stranger to last minute comebacks.

But it wasn’t meant to be for LA this year, and they fell one comeback short of bringing it home. The Astros are World Series champs!