What you need to know about the Braves’ World Series opponent, the Houston Astros:
How they got here
The Astros won the American League West championship with a regular-season record of 95-67, finishing five games ahead of second-place Seattle. They defeated the Chicago White Sox in four games in an American League Division Series and beat the Boston Red Sox in six games in the AL Championship Series. They won three consecutive games by a cumulative margin of 23-3 after falling behind two-games-to-one in the ALCS.
Frequent finalist
The Astros are in the postseason for the sixth time in seven years and in the World Series for the third time in five years. They lost to the Washington Nationals in seven games in the 2019 World Series and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games in the 2017 World Series. The Astros’ 2017 championship was later tarnished by revelations they cheated via a sign-stealing scheme. Before 2017, the Astros’ only previous trip to the World Series was in 2005, when they were swept by the Chicago White Sox.
Game 1 starter
Left-hander Framber Valdez (11-6 with a 3.14 ERA during the regular season) will start for the Astros against the Braves on Tuesday night. Valdez, 27, is coming off a terrific start in Game 5 of the ALCS, when he held Boston to one run and three hits in eight innings. He’ll be pitching on full rest.
Other starters
Astros manager Dusty Baker hasn’t named his starting pitchers beyond Game 1. Candidates include rookie Luis Garcia (11-8, 3.30), Jose Urquidy (8-3, 3.62) and veteran Zack Greinke (11-6, 4.16). Garcia allowed just one hit in 5-2/3 scoreless innings in ALCS Game 6 after struggling in Game 2. Lance McCullers (13-5, 3.16) hasn’t pitched since straining a forearm muscle before the start of the ALCS.
Powerful offense
The Astros led the major leagues in runs scored during the regular season with 863 and were second to Toronto in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) at .784. Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez had 33 homers (with a team-high 104 RBIs), second baseman Jose Altuve 31 homers, right fielder Kyle Tucker 30 homers (with a .917 OPS) and shortstop Carlos Correa 26 homers. First baseman Yuli Gurriel hit .319 (with a .383 on-base percentage) and left fielder Michael Brantley .311. Third baseman Alex Bregman hit .270 with 12 homers in 91 games, missing more than two months during the summer with a quadriceps injury. Alvarez, who went 12-for-23 (.522) in the ALCS to earn series MVP honors, could play left field for Games 3-5 without a DH at Truist Park.
Bullpen
Veteran right-handed reliever Ryan Pressly was 26-for-28 in save opportunities during the regular season, posting a 2.25 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 64 innings. Collectively, the Astros’ bullpen had a 4.06 ERA, ranking 15th among the 30 MLB teams.
Experience
Twelve players on the Astros have previous World Series experience: Altuve (2017 and 2019), Alvarez (2019), Brantley (2019), Bregman (2017 and 2019), Correa (2017 and 2019), infielder Aledmys Díaz (2019), Greinke (2019), Gurriel (2017 and 2019), catcher Martín Maldonado (2019), Pressly (2019), Tucker (2019) and Urquidy (2019).
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