Justin Verlander overcame an early scare to get the World Series victory that had eluded him for years, Jeremy Peña hit a go-ahead home run and the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 yesterday to take 3-2 lead.
The Astros will come home one win from the crowning glory, for which they also have Trey Mancini and Chas McCormick to thank, who made terrific late-inning defensive plays to barely preserve the lead.
Houston took the lead on just the fourth pitch from Noah Syndergaard, on Pena’s RBI single, but Kyle Schwarber homered in the bottom of the inning.
It seemed to revive Verlander’s Fall Classic nightmares, including the five-run lead he squandered in Game 1, when Philadelphia won 6-5 in 10 innings. This time he took the victory.
Peña had three hits, including the RBI single in the first inning. Another single in the eighth preceded an RBI grounder by Cuban Yordan Álvarez.
He also made a good jump catch at shortstop to stop the Phillies in the third inning and reclaimed the lead in the fourth by hitting four home runs in the playoffs. He is the first rookie shortstop to homer in the World Series.
In addition, the Dominican shortstop has nine extra-base hits in these playoffs/World Series, the third most in the history of a postseason for a rookie.
The record is 14 by Cuban Randy Arozarena of the Rays in 20 games in 2020, followed by 10 by fellow Cuban and Peña’s teammate in Houston, Yuli Gurriel, in 18 games in 2017. In total, Peña has five doubles and four home runs this postseason.
Last night’s home run came off a 78.5 mph breaking ball from Syndargaard.
He came off his bat at 102.1 miles per hour and had an estimated distance of 350 feet.
Syndergaard made his first Fall Classic appearance since 2015 with the New York Mets and had been limited to three relief appearances since his previous start on Oct. 1.
For the Astros, the Venezuelan José Altuve 4-2 with two runs scored. The Dominican Peña 4-3 with a run scored and two produced. The Cubans Álvarez 4-0 with an RBI, Yuli Gurriel 3-1. Puerto Rican Martin Maldonado 4-1. For the Phillies, Jean Segura 4-2 with an RBI.
