I don't know. There were just a bunch of plays throughout the series that said "it's not your year".
Fucking pre-ordained.
I'll add a log to this fire. When the Astros won the ALCS this year, I ordered a set of baseball cards featuring Astros highlights from the series, just like I've done every time the Astros won a post-season series since the 2017 ALDS.
That's what I ordered, but that's not what I got. On the morning of WS Game 6, the package I got didn't contain an 8-card set featuring Jose Altuve's walk-off homer, Peacock's start on 0 days rest, or Reddick eating grass to make a great catch. Instead, I got a single card: Howie Kendrick hoisting the NLCS MVP trophy.
Sometimes clutch hitting feels like "just baseball." Kendrick's at-bat felt like one of the BBGs had a thumb on the scale.