*Photo from the Global Times*
Atlanta leads series 3-2
The Houston Astros had plenty of things go wrong in game 5. They allowed a grand slam in the first inning. Their starter didn't make it past the 3rd inning. Yordan Alvarez went 0-5. Baseball can be funny sometimes. Carlos Correa drove in two runs, Martin Maldonado drove in 3, and the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 9-5 on Sunday night.
The win drops the deficit for the Astros, who now trail in the series 3-2 as it heads back to Houston for a game 6 at minimum. They'll have to win two more games in a row in order to hoist the world series trophy. Crazier things have indeed happened in baseball. To get to this point, they channeled their inner Tom Petty and didn't back down in game 5.
Correa said of the game 5 victory that "I say, keep fighting. I'm a huge MMA fan, and I've seen lots of guys almost knocked out, and they battle back to win the fight. I truly believe, if there's one team that can accomplish that in this league, it's us. We're going to stay confident, go out there and battle every single inning and try to win every pitch."
In the first inning, Adam Duvall got the Braves rocking, launching a grand slam to right center field to put the Braves ahead 4-0 early, looking like a long night for the Astros. In the second inning, Alex Bregman hit an RBI double, and Maldonado added a sac fly, getting the Astros on the board and cutting the Braves lead in half, making it 4-2. In the 3rd, an RBI double from Correa and an RBI groundout from Yuli Gurriel tied the game 4-4, not even two innings after it was 4-0.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Freddie Freeman put the Braves ahead 5-4, launching a 460 foot solo home run. In the 5th, Maldonado drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game 5-5, and Marwin Gonzalez came up big, with a two run pinch hit RBI single to put the Astros ahead 7-5. In the 7th, Kyle Tucker scored on an RBI single from Maldonado to make it an 8-5 game. In the 8th, Correa added an RBI single to make it 9-5 and seal the win.
Correa talked about the rise in confidence in the Houston dugout, saying that "Losing those first two games here the way we did, especially that second one, was really tough, and they eat at you a little bit. But we found a way to bounce back today, and it gives us a lot of confidence to go to Houston, our home ballpark. One pitch at a time, but we're feeling good."
Jose Urquidy, the originally scheduled game 6 starter, got the win for the Astros, throwing one scoreless inning out of the bullpen. It helped pick up a down start from Framber Valdez, who allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and two walks while lasting just 2 2/3 innings. The bullpen combo of Urquidy, Yimi Garcia, Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, and Kendall Graveman kept Houston quiet, with both Maton and Graveman throwing two innings.
On the Atlanta side, they went with a second straight bullpen game. Tucker Davidson started this one, throwing two full innings, and getting lifted in the 3rd before recording an out. Davidson was charged with 4 runs in a no decision. Jesse Chavez then handled 1 2/3 scoreless innings, before AJ Minter gave up 3 runs in one inning of work. Chris Martin threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Drew Smyly allowed two runs in 3 innings pitched.
Braves manager Brian Snitker addressed the game 5 loss, saying that "We knew consecutive bullpen games was gonna be tough. t's just a lot of innings to cover against a club like this, that swings the bat so well. The good news is we'll take a day off and be in good shape."
After using Urquidy in game 5, the Astros will turn to rookie Luis Garcia as their game 6 starter on Tuesday night, working on short rest. The Braves will get game two starter Max Fried on regular rest as they look to clinch their first title since 1995.
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