Houston Astros beat Dodgers to win World Series

The Houston Astros won the World Series after a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Seven.

The Houston Astros celebrate with the trophy after their win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of baseball’s World Series

The Houston Astros won the World Series yesterday on the back of a two-run home run by George Springer that busted the game open and lifted the team to a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Seven.

The Astros clinched the best-of-seven series 4-3 to win the championship for the first time in their 55-year existence, and did so against a Dodgers team that had Major League Baseball’s best regular season record.

The Astros jumped on Dodgers starting pitcher Yu Darvish early, scoring all five runs in the first two innings at Dodger Stadium.

“I think this is the happiest moment of my life in baseball,” Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said on the field after the final out. We did this for them,” he said of the fans in Houston, who are still recovering from the deadly Hurricane Harvey in August. There has been a lot going on in Houston the last year (and) they are the biggest reason why we are here.”

The signs for the Dodgers were ominous early as series MVP Springer scored the game’s first run on a throwing error by Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger. Alex Bregman scored on a ground ball hit by Altuve that gave the Astros a 2-0 lead before the Dodgers had even came up to bat.

Darvish issued a leadoff walk to Astros catcher Brian McCann to start the second inning and scored on a soft ground ball by pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. to make it 3-0.

Springer stepped to the plate with one on and two out in the inning and blasted his fifth home run of the World Series for a 5-0 advantage, chasing Darvish, who ended an ignominious World Series after a similarly disastrous start in Game Three.

“My approach was to get something out over the plate, get something I could drive,” Springer said of his two-run shot. And I just remember swinging and hearing the sound of the bat, and I knew it was a good sound.”

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw took the mound in the third inning and threw four scoreless innings to keep his team in the game but the Los Angeles offence failed to convert hits into runs. The National League champions were unable to capitalise on their many opportunities, stranding 10 base runners.

The Dodgers scored their lone run in the sixth inning when pinch hitter Andre Ethier hit a ground ball that found a hole.

Sports Illustrated boldly predicted an Astros’ World Series title on its cover in 2014 — after Houston had lost more than 100 games for three straight years — proclaiming: “Your 2017 World Series Champs.”

It featured a picture of Springer in a bright Astros jersey. It proved to be oh so prophetic.

The magazine had a bit of a hedged bet in this series, of course. It also ran a Dodgers cover this summer with the headline “Best. Team. Ever?”

Agencies