*Photo from NJ.com*
Series tied 1-1
After getting punched in the mouth in game one, the Houston Astros were looking to wash that bitter taste out of their mouths. Jose Altuve homered, 6 different hitters drove in a run, and the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-2 on Wednesday night.
The win evens the best of 7 world series at one apiece, with the Astros guaranteeing a game 5 in Atlanta at the very minimum. After their offense couldn't get much going in game one, 6 different Astros drove in a run, and they scored 4 runs in the second and cruised to their first win of the world series. It's also the first time a team has won a world series game in their own ballpark since game 3 of the 2018 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.
Astros manager Dusty Baker applauded his team, saying that "The difference between this group and some other groups that I've had is the fact that they're always looking for something good to happen. In Washington, we had a very talented group, but they had lost in the first round before I got there two or three times, and so therefore you start looking for things to happen. This group looks for good things to happen and expects good."
The Astros started the scoring in the first inning, when Altuve crossed the plate on a sac fly from Alex Bregman to put the Astros ahead 1-0. In the top of the second, Travis D'Arnaud tied it for the Braves by launching a solo home run into the left field seats. In the bottom of the second, Jose Siri and Michael Brantley hit RBI singles, and two runs scored on a Martin Maldonado single plus a throwing error, putting the Astros ahead 5-1.
It stayed that way until the 5th, when Freddie Freeman laced an RBI single into left field, cutting into the deficit to make it a 5-2 game halfway through. In the 6th, Yordan Alvarez scored on a fielders choice plus error to restore the 4 run lead. In the 7th, Altuve ripped a solo home run to left field, breaking the game open and making it a 7-2 Astros lead, sealing the win.
Altvue talked about the urgency of winning game two after losing the first game, saying that "I would say it was a must-win today. We didn't want to go to Atlanta down by two. So we left everything we had in there tonight. Obviously, very important win to tie the series to keep going from there."
After Framber Valdez did not last very long in game one, Jose Urquidy did exactly what he had to do in his start in game two, improving to 1-0 while stifling the Braves offense. Urquidy allowed two runs on 6 hits, punching out 7 hitters across 5 innings pitched. The combination of Cristian Javier, Phil Maton, Ryan Pressly, and Kendall Graveman kept the Braves scoreless after Urquidy left.
On the Braves side, Max Fried bit the bullet in his start, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and one walk, still striking out 6 hitters over 6 innings, taking the loss in his first start of the series. Drew Smyly allowed one run in his relief appearance. Jesse Chavez, Dylan Lee, and Kyle Wright also pitched.
Fried talked about the second inning in which he gave up 4 runs, saying that "Obviously, I'm not happy about it. Playoffs is a big momentum game. You got to do everything you can to keep the crooked number off the scoreboard. At the end of the day, they put up four runs in that inning. You need to do better next time, just making pitches, getting out of it."
After a day off on Thursday, game 3 takes place in Atlanta on Friday, with Ian Anderson starting for the Braves as they look to get back on track, and Luis Garcia gets the start for the Astros as they look to take a series lead.
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