With one swing of the bat, the World Series trophy looked to be heading back to Atlanta for the first time since 1995.
Adam Duvall had Truist Park rocking, sending the Braves faithful into a frenzy with a first inning grand slam off of Framber Valdez. With the way the Houston Astros were swinging the bats coming into game five, it was hard to imagine they had the ability to come back from a 4-0 first-inning deficit.
But champions rarely throw in the towel, and whether we believe it was legitimate or not, the Astros are a championship roster.
Houston’s three-run fifth inning gave them their first lead of the game, the bullpen took it the rest of the way in a 9-5 win Sunday night, and the Astros became just the second team to come back and win after giving up a first inning grand slam in postseason history.
“These guys are together,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “They’ve been through many of these battles. So they don’t know how to quit, and they’re always looking for an edge or an opening. Fortunately tonight, we took advantage of some.”
Following their gut-wrenching loss in game four, it would have been hard to blame the Astros for not having enough in the tank to rally, but they started chipping away immediately after Duvall’s home run.
Alex Bregman got the Astros on the board in the top of the second, doubling to center to score Yuli Gurriel. Martin Maldonado made it a two-run game with a sacrifice fly.
“I think that was the key of us winning the game right there, bouncing back right away,” Carlos Correa said. “Those two runs, Bregman getting the huge double. Getting the confidence all the way up.”
Two more runs in the third evened the game at four, making it a battle of the bullpens the rest of the way.
And besides a solo shot from first baseman Freddie Freeman in the third inning, Houston’s bullpen was able to silence the Braves’ bats from the second inning on.
Houston loaded the bases against A.J. Minter in the fifth, who walked Maldonado to tie the game, then gave up a two-run knock to Marwin Gonzalez. Maldonado — who was 4-41 in the postseason before Sunday night — drove in another run in the seventh with a two-out single.
“Whatever way you bring a run, especially in the [playoffs], is huge,” Maldonado said. “You get good at-bats, whatever the situation dictates. You try to work through it.”
With the win, the Astros tied the 1919 Chicago Black Sox for the third largest comeback in a World Series elimination game.
The two teams now head back to Houston for game six, with first pitch scheduled for Tuesday night at 8:09 p.m. ET.
“I feel like we’re right where we want to be,” Minter said. “Yeah, it was tough having back-to-back bullpen games, but we have the pitching staff to do that. We have the pitchers to cover innings down there, and a lot of pitchers stepped up today.”
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Source: Dailywire
