LOS ANGELES – Astros in the middle innings of Game 7 of the World Series, as Los Angeles Dodgers
ace Clayton Kershaw carved through the Houston Astros lineup, one
question emerged from the smoke of the ash pit that was the game’s first
hour: Why wasn’t he doing this in the innings that lost the Dodgers the
World Series?
Buoyed
by a deluge of early runs off Dodgers starter Yu Darvish and their own
stellar mishmash of pitchers, the Astros won their first World Series on
Wednesday night in a 5-1 victory at Dodger Stadium.
Forced
to a decisive seventh game after Los Angeles tied the series with a win
Tuesday, the series turned back in Houston’s favor within two minutes
of the first pitch. By the time starter Yu Darvish was taken out, the
Astros had scored as many runs as he had recorded outs (five). Though
the Dodgers’ fondness for comebacks was evident throughout their first
World Series appearance in 29 years, the Astros cobbled together 27 outs
from five pitchers, the last of whom, Charlie Morton, went four innings
and retired Corey Seager for the final out and the victory.
The
desire for Kershaw to start was rooted more in his excellence than in
any scenario Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was likely to employ. The
facts: Kershaw was throwing on two days’ rest instead of his regular
four and was on a 40-pitch limit. The last time he pitched, in Game 5,
he blew 4-0 and 7-4 leads. Though Darvish got only five outs in his Game
3 start, the Dodgers traded for him July 31 to pitch vital games.
Wonderful though hindsight is, the idea of Kershaw starting gained
traction only after he shut the Astros out in the third, fourth, fifth
and sixth innings.
They
proved too late, and Houston, which survived a pair of elimination
games in the American League Championship Series, won its first
championship.
Christened
in 1962 the Houston Colt .45’s, the organization waited more than 40
years to make its first World Series, in 2005, representing the National
League. Between then and now, the Astros have switched leagues,
embraced analytics, torn down a flawed team, booked three 106-loss-plus
seasons, developed a core of talented everyday players, built around it
with veterans, roared to a 101-win 2017, dispatched Boston in the
division series, outlasted the New York Yankees in the ALCS and
overpowered a similarly talented Dodgers team for a title.
The 113th World Series was won with a cast of homegrown players, with center fielder George Springer, the series MVP,
at the forefront. Springer’s second-inning home run chased Darvish and
made him the first player ever to homer in four consecutive World Series
games. Along with Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman, Springer
made for a potent top four in Houston’s lineup – one made even more
special because each was drafted or signed by the Astros.
“As
time will go by and we’ll watch the DVDs that are made of this series
and the memories that are built from this series,” Astros manager A.J.
Hinch said. “There will be a great appreciation of where it fits in the
context of history of baseball.”
Was
it the best? Probably not. Though Game 2 and Game 5 thrust themselves
into the World Series pantheon, the lack of competitiveness in Game 7 –
the first between 100-win-plus teams since 1931 – put a slight damper on
the enthusiasm that has surrounded the series and did the same to the
crowd of 54,124.
For
the Astros, there was nothing but excitement, even as Kershaw, pitching
in relief, did what Darvish couldn’t and mowed through the middle
innings. Though starting Kershaw was unlikely, Roberts could have gone
to him after the first inning, when Darvish allowed a pair of runs and
generated just one swing and miss among 24 pitches, a sign he lacked the
frontline stuff expected to earn him nine figures in free agency this
offseason.
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