2022 World Series
The 2022 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2022 season. The 118th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies the American League champion Houston Astros. The Astros defeated the Phillies in six games to earn their second World Series championship, redeeming themselves after an illegal sign stealing scandal tainted their 2017 championship. The series was broadcast in the United States on Fox television and ESPN Radio.
The Astros entered the 2022 MLB postseason as the AL West champions and the top-seeded AL team, while the Phillies won a wild card, earning the sixth and final NL playoff berth. The Phillies took a 2–1 lead after three games before the Astros won the final three games to win the series. Jeremy Peña won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, the first position player to win the award as a rookie.
The series was notable for having the first World Series no-hitter since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, when Astros pitchers Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly combined to leave the Phillies hitless in Game 4. It was also the third postseason no-hitter in MLB history, after Roy Halladay's no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 National League Division Series.
MLB has sold sponsorships to various postseason series since 2017, with YouTube TV serving as the official presenting sponsor of the World Series from 2017 through 2019. The World Series did not have a presenting sponsor in 2020 or 2021, but resumed sponsorship in 2022. As a result of a new multi-year agreement with Capital One, this World Series was officially known as the 2022 World Series presented by Capital One.
Background
This was the second postseason meeting between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies following their 1980 National League Championship Series encounter, which was won by Philadelphia, 3–2, en route to winning the 1980 World Series.Houston and Philadelphia met in the last series of the 2022 MLB season in Houston. Houston won two of the three games, although Philadelphia clinched their postseason berth in the first game with a win. The 19-game gap between the Astros and Phillies is the second largest in World Series history, trailing only the 23-game gap in between the 93-win Chicago White Sox and the 116-win Chicago Cubs.
Philadelphia Phillies
This was the eighth World Series appearance for the Phillies and the first since 2009. The Phillies struggled at the start of the 2022 season. On June 3, with a record of, manager Joe Girardi was fired, and Rob Thomson, their bench coach, was named their interim manager. From there, the Phillies went. They clinched a postseason berth on the third to last day of the season; they were the last postseason team of the 12 to clinch a berth. They qualified for the postseason as the sixth seed wild card entrant with an record.In the National League Wild Card Series, they swept the National League Central division winner St. Louis Cardinals, who were ranked third in the National League. In the National League Division Series, they defeated the defending World Series champion and National League East division winner Atlanta Braves in four games, the NL's second seed. In the National League Championship Series, they defeated the fifth-seeded San Diego Padres in five games to clinch a World Series berth for the first time since 2009, which the Phillies lost in six games to the New York Yankees. Bryce Harper won the most valuable player award for the NLCS after batting 8-for-20 with two home runs and three doubles. The Phillies were the first team to finish third in their division and advance to a World Series since the 1981 New York Yankees.
Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies' president of baseball operations, made his fifth World Series appearance. Dombrowski is the first lead executive to make World Series appearances with four different teams, having done so with the Florida Marlins in 1997, Detroit Tigers in 2006 and 2012, and the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
Houston Astros
This is the fifth World Series appearance for the Astros, and the fourth as the American League team. The Astros qualified for the 2022 postseason as the American League West division winner. It was their fifth AL West championship in six years and their second straight championship. The Astros entered the postseason as the top seed in the American League. In the Division Series, they swept the fifth-seeded Seattle Mariners. In the American League Championship Series, they swept the second-seeded New York Yankees to make it to the World Series for the fourth time in the previous six seasons and the second consecutive season. They were the first team to return to the World Series in back-to-back years since the Kansas City Royals did in 2014 and 2015.Houston's pitching staff led the American League in 2022 with the fewest runs allowed, lowest opponent's batting average and walks plus hits per inning pitched, the most strikeouts, and posted an MLB-best 2.78 bullpen earned run average. Justin Verlander, who had missed Houston's postseason runs in 2020 and 2021, made his return from Tommy John surgery and led the AL in wins, ERA, and walks plus hits per inning pitched ratio. Rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña won the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award after batting 6-for-18 with two home runs and two doubles in the ALCS.
Dusty Baker, in his 25th season as a major league manager, was seeking his first World Series win as a manager. At 73 years of age, Baker was the oldest manager in World Series history.
Summary
Matchups
Game 1
This was the first World Series since to start on a Friday, a change made in part to avoid playing on Sunday and thus going head-to-head with the NFL and NBC Sunday Night Football. Prior to Game 1, Eric Burton of the band Black Pumas sang "The Star-Spangled Banner". Terry Puhl threw the ceremonial first pitch and Simone Biles called "play ball!". Justin Verlander started for the Astros while Aaron Nola started for the Phillies.Kyle Tucker hit a solo home run off of Nola in the bottom of the second inning. Nola then gave up two singles to Yuli Gurriel and Chas McCormick. With runners at the corners, Martín Maldonado hit a run batted in single scoring Gurriel. Jose Altuve grounded into a double play to end the inning. Jeremy Peña doubled to start the third for Houston and Alex Bregman drew a walk. Tucker hit a three-run home run into the Astros' bullpen to give Houston a 5–0 lead. Verlander took a no-hit bid into the top of the fourth inning when he gave up a single to Rhys Hoskins. Bryce Harper singled, moving Hoskins to third. Nick Castellanos drove in Hoskins with a single, and Alec Bohm drove in Harper and Castellanos with a double down the left-field line to trim the lead to two. In the top of the fifth inning, Verlander gave up a leadoff double to Brandon Marsh, and walked Kyle Schwarber. J. T. Realmuto hit a double off the base of the wall to score both runners and tie the game at five. Realmuto advanced to third on a Harper groundout, but Verlander struck out Castellanos, ending the inning. At the top of the sixth, Nola was replaced by José Alvarado, who retired the side.
The game remained tied through nine innings, and entered extra innings, becoming the first World Series game to be decided in extra innings since Game 3 of 2018. In the top of the tenth inning, Realmuto hit a solo home run off Luis García to give the Phillies a one-run lead. After a Harper single and a Bryson Stott walk, García was taken out of the game and replaced with Ryne Stanek, who was able to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the tenth inning, David Robertson struck out Yordan Alvarez before giving up a double to Bregman. Tucker tipped off a fair ball that bounced in front of home plate and was thrown out at first. Robertson walked Gurriel, bringing pinch hitter Aledmys Díaz to the plate. Robertson threw a wild pitch to advance the runners to second and third. After working the count to 2–1, Díaz was hit on the elbow by Robertson and started toward first base. However, the home plate umpire ruled that Díaz had leaned into the pitch, resulting in ball three. On the next pitch, Díaz grounded out, ending the game. It was the first time since 2002 that a team had overcome a five-run deficit to win a World Series game, when the San Francisco Giants – also managed by Dusty Baker – blew such a lead in Game 6.
Game 2
performed the national anthem before Game 2. Craig Biggio threw the ceremonial first pitch to Jeff Bagwell, and Bun B called "play ball!". Framber Valdez started for Houston and Zack Wheeler started for Philadelphia.In the first inning, Jeremy Peña hit an RBI double to score Jose Altuve for the first run. Yordan Alvarez followed with the third straight double to bring in the second run for the Astros. With that hit, Houston became the first World Series team to start a game with three straight extra-base hits. Alvarez scored the third run on an error. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Alex Bregman hit a two-run home run to left field to make the score 5–0. Nick Castellanos scored the first run for the Phillies on a sacrifice fly by Jean Segura in the seventh inning to make it 5–1. In the top of the eighth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit a foul ball that was initially ruled a two-run home run, which would have made the score 5–3. Schwarber ended up flying out deep to right on the next pitch, again just missing a home run. In the top of the ninth inning, Alec Bohm scored on an error by first baseman Yuli Gurriel to make it 5–2, which proved to be the final score.
Game 2 was also notable for umpire Pat Hoberg calling a "perfect game" with 129 of 129 pitches called correctly. Hoberg received widespread praise from both fans and the press for this accomplishment.