NEW YORK (AFP) – Bryce Harper’s game-winning home run on Sunday powered the Philadelphia Phillies into the World Series, where they will face Houston after the Astros swept the New York Yankees out of the Major League Baseball playoffs.
The Phillies reached the World Series for the first time in 13 years by beating San Diego, 4-3, to win the best-of-seven National League Championship Series four games to one.
“We’re going to celebrate,” said Rhys Hoskins, who smacked a two-run homer in the third and four homers for the Phillies in the series.
The Astros booked their fourth World Series appearance in six seasons by edging the Yankees 6-5 in New York to capture the American League Championship Series in four straight games.
“This is amazing,” said Houston’s Alex Bregman who drove in the deciding run with a seventh-inning single.
“This team has worked so hard. Just so proud to be a part of it. So many guys stepped up.”
Houston, who won the MLB crown in 2017 but lost the final in 2019 and last year, will host the Phillies in game one of the best-of-seven World Series on Friday.
“We’ve still got some baseball left to play,” Bregman said. “We’re going to go try and get four more wins. Excited to keep playing.”
The Astros, 7-0 in the playoffs, are only the third team to sweep the divisional round and ALCS and could become the first such team to win the World Series.
The Phillies, in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, reached the World Series for the first time since 2009. They have not won the MLB crown since 2008.
“We always believed,” Harper said. “There was no emotion that it wasn’t going to happen, that we weren’t going to have this opportunity to be here.
