Astros Win 3rd AL Pennant in 5 Years; Red Sox Have Nothing To Be Ashamed Of At All

The Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0 in Game 6 of the ALCS to win their 3rd AL pennant in five years.

The Red Sox had a 2-1 series lead and had a good chance of going up 3-1 when Nate Eovaldi appeared to have Jason Castro struck out but home plate Laz Diaz transformed into Joe West right before our very eyes. Instead, Castro singled and began a 7 run 9th inning and won the game 9-2. In fairness to Diaz, he did not leave 10 runners on base in Game 4. Nevertheless, it would knock the wind out of the Sox's sails. The Red Sox who had scored 9 runs in Game 2 and 12 runs in Game 3 would only score one more run in the remainder of the ALCS as the Astros went on all eight cylinders on pitching, offense and defense. Astros' DH Yordan Alvarez earned the ALCS MVP going 12 for 23 (.522) with a HR and 6 RBI including a 4 for 4 performance this evening.

The 2021 Boston Red Sox have nothing to be ashamed of at all. This was widely expected to be a rebuilding season. Boston was not expected to contend. Most picked a fourth place finish in the AL East just ahead of the lowly Baltimore Orioles. Instead, the Sox had a powerful offense up and down the lineup and had some surprise pitching performances from Tanner Houck and Rule 5 draft pick Garrett Whitlock. It was enough to reach the post-season for the first time since 2018. The Sox defeated the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card game and upset the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS and managed to have the upper hand against the Astros in the ALCS until the 9th inning in Game 4. 

The Astros will face the winner of the NLCS. The Atlanta Braves currently have a 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in that series which resumes tomorrow night in Atlanta. Should the Braves prevail tomorrow or on Sunday it will mark their first NL pennant since 1999. It would also mark the first all-Southern World Series in MLB history. 

However, if the Dodgers come back and win it all like they did against the Braves a year ago then we will have a rematch of the 2017 Fall Classic. While that Series was spectacular at the time, the Astros blatantly cheated their way to a title and their cast of characters remains much the same. The Dodgers would get their World Series title last year. That was tainted by Justin Turner celebrating with his teammates on the field even though he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Should there be another Astros-Dodgers World Series then I cannot bring myself to root for either team with this single caveat. The only good thing about the Astros winning the World Series would be that it would be a nice capstone on Dusty Baker's nearly three decade managerial career and would punch his ticket into Cooperstown. Still, I wish Baker's World Series triumph would have come elsewhere.

Despite not having the best of experiences in Atlanta, I am rooting for them against the Dodgers and will root for them should they face the Astros. Whoever faces the Astros in the Fall Classic will have a very tall order before them.