World Series Game 6 Open Thread

It could all be over tonight. If the Astros beat the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series, that’s it. Houston wins. That would seal a dominant postseason that has seen the Astros lose only two games total - the first and third games of this series. They swept two straight series to get here. They pulled off a combined no-hitter to even this series up after falling in a 2-1 hole. With Game 6 and if necessary Game 7 in Houston, they should probably have it in the bag.

Of course, Orioles fans of sufficient age are well aware that coming back home for Games 6 and 7 needing to win only one game is no guarantee of a title. The 1979 team came up short in that circumstance. Something weird could happen and these eccentric Phillies could pull it off. I think most of the country is probably rooting for the Phillies, on account of both the Astros having won recently and that recent title now having the smudge of the whole trash can banging scheme upon it.

Looking at it now that the series is over, I find I don’t have strong feelings. The Phillies are probably fun enough. The Astros are, of course, interesting since the Orioles are sort of hoping to follow their blueprint - it’s a good sign if the Houston team can sustain success for multiple championships with many core players changing between the two titles. Plus it would be nice if Trey Mancini got a ring. But do Astros fans deserve that bounty? No.

There is one Orioles-related thing going on tonight, assuming you can bring yourself to care about the Home Run Derby for the Arizona Fall League. Heston Kjerstad is one of the eight competitors in the derby. He’s tied for the AFL lead with five home runs so far. Would it mean anything if he wins this derby? Probably not, but it would be fun. That’s supposed to start at 9:35. I assume it’ll be streamed somewhere, although at the moment I couldn’t say where.

As for the World Series lineups...

Astros starting lineup

1. Jose Altuve - 2B
2. Jeremy Peña - SS
3. Yordan Alvarez - LF
4. Alex Bregman - 3B
5. Kyle Tucker - RF
6. Christian Vázquez - DH
7. Trey Mancini - 1B
8. Chas McCormick - CF
9. Martín Maldonado - C

Valdez has made a start in each of the Astros postseason series this year and he has combined for a 1.42 ERA across those three starts. Pretty good! Game 2 of the series saw him allow just one run in 6.1 innings, during which he struck out nine guys. It’ll be tough for him to do better than that, although with the Houston offense being what it is, he probably doesn’t have to.

Phillies starting lineup

1. Kyle Schwarber - LF
2. Rhys Hoskins - 1B
3. J.T. Realmuto - C
4. Bryce Harper - DH
5. Nick Castellanos - RF
6. Alec Bohm - 3B
7. Jean Segura - 2B
8. Matt Vierling - CF
9. Edmundo Sosa - SS

The Phillies will look to starting pitcher Zack Wheeler to keep their season alive for another day. It’s been a good postseason overall for the eight-year MLB veteran lefty if not quite as good as Valdez has been. Also, earlier in this same series he gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings and took the loss in Game 2.

The roof will be closed for the game.