The Philadelphia Phillies are back in the World Series for the first time since 2009, playing the Houston Astros for baseball’s most important title.
The Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres 4-3 in the fifth game of the series on Sunday (local time). Tonight, the Astros clinched their third win against the New York Yankees and completed their fourth World Series appearance in the past six years.
The Astros lost to the Atlanta Braves last year and the Washington Nationals in 2019. In 2017, the team won the title, but had demonstrably cheated. Since then, the Astros have been a red rag to most baseball fans.
The last Phillies championship in the MLB was 14 years ago. The team around star player Bryce Harper goes into the World Series as an outsider. The first game of the series is on Saturday night.
The Phillies are the first team in MLB history to qualify for the World Series as the third-place team in a division. This was made possible by the extended play-off field, this season twelve teams took part for the first time. The Phillies were third after the main round and secured their playoff ticket by beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild card round.
