<P> The 2017 World Series took place between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros . Seven games were played, with the Astros victorious after game seven, played in Los Angeles . The final score was 5--1 . This was the first World Series won by the Astros . </P> <P> In the American League, the New York Yankees have played in 40 World Series and won 27, the Philadelphia / Kansas City / Oakland Athletics have played in 14 and won 9, and the Boston Red Sox have played in 12 and won 8, including the first World Series . In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have appeared in 19 and won 11, the New York / San Francisco Giants have played in 20 and won 8, the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers have appeared in 19 and won 6, and the Cincinnati Reds have appeared in 9 and won 5 . </P> <P> As of 2017, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998, 1999, and 2000--the longest such drought in Major League Baseball history . </P> <P> Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871--1875) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States . All championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played . From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion . These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, with the terms arranged through negotiation of the owners of the championship teams beforehand . The number of games played ranged from as few as three in 1884 (Providence defeated New York three games to zero), to a high of fifteen in 1887 (Detroit beat St. Louis ten games to five). Both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game . </P>

Who has won the first two games of the world series