But what are sports if not the erasure of nuance in favor of binary catharsis? It’s OK (really!) as long as you recognize the inherent oversimplification. On the other, such is the potential pitfall of painting with too broad a brush. On the one hand, those seem mutually exclusive. Over the course of their sustained relevance, two main narratives have emerged: enjoy the Astros because every battle needs a villain and they’re here to embody and perhaps even embrace the role or enjoy the Astros because they’re barely even the same team now as they were in ‘17.
522 average in the series.Ĭarlos Correa and Yordan Alvarez share a moment of celebration after Alvarez's four-hit game helped the Astros clinch a World Series berth. A 5-0 win in Game 6 at home on Friday night was perhaps the cleanest performance of the series: rookie Luis García took a no-hitter into the sixth, Martín Maldonado nixed a near-rally with a strikeout-em-out-throw-em-out double play, and Yordan Alvarez took home ALCS MVP honors after a four-hit game (double what the entire Sox lineup managed) to give him a record. (Three, if you enjoy yelling obscenities and tweeting trash can emojis.)įirst, the context: The Astros stole signs in their 2017 championship season and four years later - in their fifth consecutive postseason appearance - they’re heading back to the World Series after besting the Boston Red Sox four games to two in the ALCS. There are two ways for an unbiased viewer to appreciate the Astros’ continued success in the wake of revelations about baseball’s biggest team cheating scandal in a century. They got themselves into this mess, making it harder than it had to be. They have to fail first to make the success look like redemption. They can only hit with two outs after making two outs. It shows tenacity and focus and frankly self-confidence to play with the same steady conviction with your back against the wall. It’s impressive, this ability to produce under pressure. Winning three straight after falling down 2-1 in the American League Championship Series - ugly losses, too, bad enough that people started to count out a proven division winner against a flawed wild-card team - showcased similar resilience. 341/.399/.619 with nine home runs and 44 RBIs in 126 at-bats with two outs. And the numbers back that up: With a flair for the dramatic or a never-say-die mentality, they’ve collectively batted. You can feel it if you watched the games, the way their wins felt like comebacks even when they led the whole night. The Houston Astros have been at their best this postseason when they’re down to their final out of an inning.