For the first time since 1994, the Astros are champions of the Rookie-level Florida Complex League after defeating the Rays, 4-3, in Game 2 of the circuit's best-of-3 Finals on Monday afternoon.
Along with finishing the regular season with a league best 42-11 record, the FCL Astros won their last 13 games to cap their year. After winning Game 1, 7-1, they won the title on a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning.
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In Game 2, after right-hander Jhoster Baez pitched 3 2/3 hitless innings but gave up a run, a Juan Rojas home run tied the game up in the 4th inning for the Astros. Right-hander Jose Serrano pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to take the game to extra innings, while the pitching trio of Miguel Toscano, Riley Stanford, and Starlin Savinon gave the Rays nine innings of one-run pitching.
The offenses exploded in the 10th inning, as Slater de Brun picked up an RBI on an error that scored Jack Lines, before de Brun scored on a Taitn Gray double to give the Rays a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the 10th.
The Astros got their rally going in the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single by Pablo Martinez, followed by a game-tying RBI triple by Rojas. Roiner Quintana gave the Astros the championship by scoring Rojas on a walk-off RBI single to center.
"One of the biggest things I tell the guys is be in the moment right now and figure out what we need to do to win this inning, to win this game, and not get ahead of ourselves. So we play day-by-day, that's the biggest thing." Astros manager Vincent Blue said after the game. "I'm just extremely proud of the players for being open to developing and winning. It's been an incredible ride."
Houston's affiliate shut out the Orioles, 7-0, in Saturday's semifinal. The Championship Series opener featured more Astros dominance, before they won the championship in heroic fashion in Game 2.
Rojas was a playoff hero for the Astros, leading them in RBIs (7), runs (4), home runs (2) and OPS (1.500) during their three-game playoff stretch. Luis De Leon led the team in the regular season with 47 hits, and tied for the team lead in doubles (4) and home runs (4). Adrian Ardinez spearheaded the team on the pitching front, finishing the regular season with a 5-1 record and 3.42 ERA, while leading the team in innings pitched (52.2) and strikeouts (56). Ardinez also pitched six shutout innings in the Astros semifinal win against the Orioles.
Known as the Sarasota Rookie League in 1964, the circuit became the Florida Rookie League in 1965 before transforming into the Gulf Coast League from 1966-2020 and then the Florida Complex League after that.