The Astros Have Their First World Series Title

In a rather anticlimactic ending that wasn’t exactly befitting a pretty thrilling series, the Houston Astros claimed their first World Series title in franchise history with a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in tonight’s Game 7.

The Dodgers left 10 men stranded on base as starter Yu Darvish got blown up early, while Houston’s George Springer became the first player to hit a home run in four straight games in one World Series.

Darvish looked just like he did in his Game 3 start, which is to say that he looked like a weird shell of himself who’d mysteriously lost his command and his ability to throw a breaking ball. Things were off to a bad start for him right from the jump: a lead-off double to Springer, followed by a maddening error from first baseman Cody Bellinger on the next plate appearance that allowed Springer to score and Alex Bregman to advance to second. While he made it out of the inning without significant further damage, he didn’t last very long past that. In the second inning, he allowed a two-run homer to Springer, and then he was done. For the second time in this series, Darvish lasted five outs—and only that long this time because manager Dave Roberts made the mistake of letting him stay in.

The Dodgers’ bullpen held the Astros scoreless for the rest of the night—including four innings by Clayton Kershaw on two days’ rest—but it wasn’t enough. Their bats couldn’t get much started against Houston, and they certainly couldn’t finish what little they started. Lance McCullers was pulled in the third after allowing three hits and hitting four batters, but a bullpen led by Brad Peacock and capped by four innings from Charlie Morton held strong. Other than one run in the sixth, courtesy of an RBI-single from Andre Ethier that drove home Joc Pederson, there was nothing.

A series that had featured wild lead changes and intense swings—with a pair of extra-inning thrillers and a record-breaking number of home runs—coasted to a fairly quiet end here. And with a Corey Seager groundout fielded smoothly by Jose Altuve, it was over: