Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros advance to the World Series

By Kevin Dotson, CNN

The Houston Astros are once again heading for the World Series after sweeping the New York Yankees in the best-of-four League Championship Series.

With a 6-5 win Sunday, the Astros advanced to the World Series for the fourth time in six years and will now face the Philadelphia Phillies, who beat the San Diego Padres to win the National League Championship Series earlier on Sunday.

Philadelphia advanced to its first World Series since 2009 and looks for its first championship since 2008.

While the Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game after two innings, the Astros showed the relentless attack that has that has carried the team to an undefeated 7-0 record this postseason. The Astros scored four runs in the third inning to go on top, and when the Yankees later reclaimed the lead, the Astros scored twice more in the seventh inning to claim victory.

The Yankees had a final chance to extend the game with Aaron Judge — who hit an American League record 62 home runs during the regular season — at the plate, but Houston closer Ryan Pressly induced a groundball back to the mound to record the final out of the game.

Astros’ rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña was named ALCS most valuable player after picking up six hits and two home runs in the series, including a big three-run shot in Sunday’s decisive win.

The Astros will return to Fall Classic for the fourth time since 2017, looking to make amends for a loss in last year’s World Series. The Astros’ one and only World Series championship in franchise history came in 2017.

Houston is set to face the Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series, which will begin Friday at Houston’s Minute Maid Field.

The Phillies — the National League’s lowest-seeded playoff team– have had an unlikely run to the World Series that culminated with their win over the Padres earlier on Sunday.

The Phillies won Sunday’s decisive Game 5 by a score of 4-3. The Phillies trailed in the eighth inning of the game before slugger Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the postseason, to put Philadelphia in front. Harper was named NLCS most valuable player after racking up eight hits, five RBIs and two home runs in the series.

Philadelphia entered the postseason as the National League’s final wild card team after finishing third place in their division with a regular season record of 87-75.

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