Astros turned screws to end Series

What a letdown. After six stellar games, this World Series finally ran out of magic.

Not to take anything away from the Houston Astros, who claimed the first Series title in franchise history with a 5-1 snoozer over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.

For the eyes of Texas, this was a thing of beauty — especially considering where this teamwas just four short years ago, wrapping up three straight 100-loss seasons while in the midst of a massive reconstruction.

They’ll go down as a virtual textbook on how to tear down a franchise for the purpose of building it up again, an especially poignant championship for a city ravaged by Hurricane Harvey and desperate for something, anything to rally around .

“The people of Houston were never far from our minds,” Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said. “They deserve this as much as we do, and we’re going to party hard.”

But the last game of the season was a total bomb.

Blame Dodgers starter Yu Dar--

vish.

And manager Dave Roberts for sending him to the mound.

Darvish was acquired by the Dodgers at the trade deadline, supposedly the final piece needed to return a championship to baseball’s biggest-spending team.

He didn’t even make it through the second inning for the second time in the Series.

As a result, the Dodgers’ excruciating 29-year championship drought will stretch to three full decades.

The Hollywood ending will have to wait.

“I know he wanted the baseball. I know he was prepared,” Roberts said. “I just can’t explain the results. I really can’t.”

Darvish surrendered five runs (four earned) in 1 2/3 innings, joining a very small hall of infamy. Back in 1960, Art Ditmar became the first pitcher to start a pairWorld Series games and not make it to the third inning in either one of them. Now, he’s got company. “This pain is going to stay inme for a while,” Darvish said.

Darvish didn’t lookmuch more effective than 91-yearold Don Newcombe or 81-year- old Sandy Koufax, who threw out the ceremonial first pitches. George Springer led off the game with a double and trotted home when Cody Bellinger ventured too far to his right to field Alex Bregman’s grounder, a play that wouldn’t have been much easier for second baseman Logan Forsythe. Springer came all the way home on Bellinger’s throwing error, and Bregman wound up scoring too.

Then Series MVP Springer came through with the decisive blow of the season.

After McCullers made it 3- 0 with a run- scoring grounder, Roberts had Brandon Morrow throwing in the bullpen with two outs. Themanager hoped to get one more out from Darvish, a foolhardy gamble it turned out.