Baseball-Astros Pena voted World Series most valuable player

Pena, who was also named the American League championship series most valuable player, added another line in the record books in Game Five when he became the first rookie shortstop to hit a home run in the World Series. He also contributed a pair of hits in Game Six, scoring on Yordan Alvarez's sixth inning three-run blast that powered Houston into a 3-1 lead they would not surrender.

Houston Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena was named the World Series most valuable player on Saturday after his team beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 to clinch the Fall Classic.

Pena becomes the third rookie to be named World Series MVP joining Florida Marlins Livan Hernandez in 1997 and Larry Sherry with the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers. The Gold Glove shortstop also becomes the first rookie position player to be honoured.

"It has a lot to do with my family, my upbringing," said Pena, whose father Geronimo Pena was an infielder with the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Guardians. "Shoutout to my teammates as well. "They took me in since day one. They gave me the confidence to just go out and play my game."

It was a spectacular postseason for the 25-year-old Dominican, who delivered defensively and at the plate, registering at least one hit in each of the six World Series games. Pena, who was also named the American League championship series most valuable player, added another line in the record books in Game Five when he became the first rookie shortstop to hit a home run in the World Series.

He also contributed a pair of hits in Game Six, scoring on Yordan Alvarez's sixth-inning three-run blast that powered Houston into a 3-1 lead they would not surrender. Houston took the best-of-seven series 4-2.

"It was just pass-the-baton mentality, get on base and let Yordan do his thing," said Pena about his sixth-inning single. "He's done it all year. "He came through for us. That's big-time."

"Man, that ball was hit hard. I've never seen anything like it."