The Houston Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves, 9-5, on Sunday night, staving off elimination in the World Series with a thrilling rally in Game 5.
Houston fell behind early — and big. Adam Duvall hit a first-inning grand slam off Framber Valdez, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead over the Astros.
It was just the third first-inning slam in Series history, following Elmer Smith in Game 5 in 1920 and Bobby Richardson in Game 3 in 1960.
Alex Bregman and the Astros answered quickly in the second inning, however, scoring twice to trim their deficit to 4-2 against Atlanta.
AL batting champion Yuli Gurriel singled off surprise starter Tucker Davidson with one out, and Kyle Tucker walked. Bregman drove an RBI double up the right-centre alley and spurred on the Houston dugout from second base after a much-needed clutch hit.
Bregman had been 1-for-14 in this World Series with five strikeouts. Houston was hitless in its previous 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and 4-for-31 overall.
Martin Maldonado followed with a sacrifice fly before pitcher Framber Valdez struck out looking.
Freddie Freeman hit the Braves’ second go-ahead homer of the game, restoring a 5-4 lead in the third inning, drilling a 460-foot no-doubter to right-centre against Framber Valdez leading off the bottom of the inning.
Fans chanted “Freddie! Freddie!” for the 2020 NL MVP. The homer was his first of the World Series and his sixth career go-ahead homer in the postseason, passing Chipper Jones for most in franchise history.
Things settled down a bit in the fourth inning of Game 5 at the World Series. For the first time all night, both teams made it through their half inning without giving up a run, leaving the Braves with a 5-4 lead.
But then, Houston has come back again, scoring three times with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 7-5 lead over the Atlanta Braves into the sixth.
Carlos Correa had a leadoff single against lefty reliever A.J. Minter for his second hit of the night. Correa moved up on Yuli Gurriel’s one-out single, and both runners advanced when Kyle Tucker grounded out to the right side.
Alex Bregman was intentionally walked to bring up light-hitting catcher Martin Maldonado with the bases loaded. Looking to get on base and tie the game any which way, Maldonado moved right on top of the plate and appeared to be taking all the way early in the count.
He showed bunt on 3-1, and Minter missed way inside to force in the tying run with a walk. Pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez dumped the next pitch into shallow left field for a two-run single that put the Astros ahead for the first time in Game 5 after they trailed 4-0 in the first.
Gonzalez, added to the roster for the World Series, fisted a soft looper that came off the bat at just 71 mph and landed only 235 feet from home plate.
Chris Martin struck out Jose Altuve to prevent further damage.
A big swing by light-hitting catcher Martin Maldonado gave the Astros another run in the seventh inning, and they carried an 8-5 lead over Atlanta into the eighth.
Now trailing the Braves 3-2 in the series, the Astros will head back to Houston for Game 6 on Tuesday night.
