World Series Game 5: Braves host Astros needing one more win for the club’s fourth title
The Braves are inching closer to their fourth World Series crown – and their second since moving to Atlanta in 1966 – but the Houston Astros are not going away quietly in Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night.
Adam Duvall hit a first-inning grand slam off Framber Valdez, but the Astros have clawed back to tie the game, 4-4, thanks to RBI doubles from Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa as well as a pair of sacrifice RBis from Yuli Gurriel and Martin Maldonado.
Although he did bounce back with a 1-2-3 second inning, Valdez looked like he was about to have a short night after a rough first frame.
Back in the leadoff spot for Atlanta, Jorge Soler reached on a bad-hop single to left leading off. Freddie Freeman flied out and Albies grounded into a forceout. Austin Riley singled, and when left fielder Yordan Alvarez threw to third even though he had no chance to catch the speedy Albies, Riley continued to second.
Eddie Rosario walked, loading the bases, and Duvall responded by driving a first-pitch 95.4 mph fastball on the low, outside corner to the opposite field. Right fielder Michael Brantley backtracked but ran out of room, and the ball soared over the 16-foot brick wall in right and into the second row of seats in front of the Chop House restaurant,
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.
Valdez was facing the Astros for the second time in the Series after losing the opener.
Meanwhile, rookie Tucker Davidson pitched around a walk to throw a scoreless first inning for the Braves, his first major league action in 4 1/2 months.
Added to the roster on Wednesday after Charlie Morton broke a leg in the opener, Davidson entered with just five major league appearances – the last June 15.
Adam Duvall #14 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Five of the World Series at Truist Park on Sunday
Amid ongoing controversy over the Braves’ name and ‘tomahawk chop’ chant, several fans were seen wearing headdresses
A few fans wear headdresses prior to Game Five of the World Series between the Astros and Braves in Atlanta
A fan holds a sign prior to Game Five between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves of the World Series at Truist Park
A fan dressed for halloween is seen at Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday at Atlanta’s Truist Park
Tucker Davidson #64 of the Atlanta Braves warms up prior to Game Five of the World Series
Doug (R) with daughter Sydney of Atlanta and dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween during Sunday’s Game 5
A fan looks on prior to Game Five of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park
‘It’s such a cool moment for this city, but we got one more,’ said Swanson, an Atlanta-area native, who was traded to the Braves from the Arizona Diamondbacks in December of 2015, just over six months after he was drafted No. 1 overall. ‘They have a great ballclub over there and we can’t take anything for granted. We have to come out (Sunday) and be ready to play our game.’
The Astros sent Game 1 starter Framber Valdez to the mound Sunday. Valdez was roughed up for five runs over two innings in Game 1, giving up eight hits along with home runs from Soler and Adam Duvall.
Left-hander Tucker Davidson got the start for Atlanta.
Valdez already has eight postseason appearances (seven starts) over the past two seasons and is 4-2 with a 3.73 ERA.
But Valdez’s Game 1 start is not the Astros’ biggest concern. Houston has scored just two combined runs over the past two games and left 11 runners on base in Game 4, including seven over the first four innings.
‘They have good pitchers and they have been executing every pitch,’ said Houston’s Jose Altuve, who has two home runs in the World Series but is just 4-for-18 in four games. ‘They are not giving us a lot of pitches to hit. We’re trying hard as hitters, we have a good lineup, but sometimes you have to give credit to the other team.’
No. 3 hitter Alex Bregman is just 1-for-14 in the series with five strikeouts and no extra-base hits. Cleanup hitter Yordan Alvarez is 1-for-11. Carlos Correa is 2-for-14.
Astros manager Dusty Baker was asked after Game 4 if he would consider a lineup change that has Bregman lower in the order.
‘Well, yeah, I thought about it,’ Baker said. ‘I’ll let you know tomorrow when I make the lineup out.’
A Atlanta Braves fan holds up a sign during batting practice before Game 5 of the World Series against the Houston Astros
Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies walks across the field ahead of Game 5 of the World Series against the Astros
A fan watches during batting practice before Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday at Atlanta’s Truist Park
Atlanta Braves designated hitter Jorge Soler smiles during batting practice before Game 5 on Sunday at Truist Park
Hall of Famer Greg Maddux threw out the ceremonial first pitch earlier in the evening.
Maddux, wearing his Braves jersey, tipped his cap in response to an ovation from fans as he walked onto the field. Fittingly, he threw the pitch to Eddie Perez, who was often his designated catcher.
Perez, also a former Braves coach, now is a special advisor for player development for the team.
Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young Awards for the Chicago Cubs and the Braves, including in 1995 when he posted a remarkable 19-2 record with a 1.63 ERA for Atlanta’s 1995 World Series champion team.
It was a rare Atlanta appearance for ‘Mad Dog’ Maddux. The 55-year-old Maddux is the pitching coach for UNLV.
Pitcher Zack Greinke #21 of the Houston Astros hits a single against Kyle Wright on Saturday night in Atlanta
There’s a good chance Major League Baseball will bring the designated hitter to the National League next year – likely forever. That means Sunday night’s game at Truist Park might mark the final time a pitcher ever appears in a big league batting order.
‘I think it’s definitely going to be pretty special that this could be the last pitchers ever hitting in baseball. We’ve definitely brought it up,’ Braves starter Ian Anderson said.
No more Madison Bumgarner swinging for the fences. No more Bartolo Colon flailing and losing his helmet – or shocking everyone by going deep. No more Greinke grounding a single up the middle, as he did Saturday night in Game 4.
Say goodbye to double switches. Sacrifice bunts would shrivel up and automatic intentional walks to face the pitcher would vanish, too. So would the risk of a $20 million ace pulling his hamstring while running the bases.
Plus, the little nuances that would disappear: the bat boy running out a warmup jacket to the pitcher at first base, the on-deck hitter lingering near the batter’s box to give his hurler more time to walk back to the dugout.
More than a century of strategy and baseball fabric, ripped away.
‘Once it ever changes to no DH, then it will probably never change back, and that’s something that would sadden me,’ Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
Good riddance, says Houston shortstop Carlos Correa.
‘To me, that’s not real baseball,’ he said Saturday. ‘I want to see real hitters out there.’
Sure, a few pitchers might get an at-bat here and there, maybe in extra innings when teams run out of position players.
So who knows, maybe the Hall of Fame will get the bat Framber Valdez uses when he starts Game 5 for Houston. The Braves plan a bullpen game, so it’s possible none of their pitchers will hit.
‘To be honest with you, the last time that I hit was in the regular season in San Diego, I thought I was done hitting,’ Valdez said through a translator Saturday.
‘Fourteen or 15 was the last time that I hit regularly in a league. I liked to hit in that era,’ he said. ‘It’s a little bit different hitting as a pitcher here in the big leagues. So I still like hitting in softball back home in the Dominican, but hitting as a major league pitcher, I don’t like it.’
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 31: Manager Brian Snitker #43 of the Atlanta Braves looks on during batting practice ahead of Game Five of the World Series against the Houston Astros at Truist Park on Sunday
The DH debate has raged since 1973, when Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first player to fill the role. It continues to this day, when American League teams often feel at a disadvantage when the World Series shifts to an NL park.
Holding a 3-1 lead, the Braves hope to clinch the crown Sunday night. If not, the scene moves back to a DH setup at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Since the DH era began, the only pitchers to homer in the World Series have been Joe Blanton for Philadelphia in 2008 and Ken Holtzman for Oakland in 1974.
Overall, pitchers are just 3 for 49 (.061) at the plate this postseason.
Not that many pitchers do a lot of damage at other times, either – besides Shohei Ohtani, of course. Big league hurlers hit a collective .108 this season. Max Scherzer, who used to handle the bat fairly well, was a whopping 0 for 62 for the Dodgers and Washington, didn’t safely reach base once and struck out half the time.
Greinke, meanwhile, does fine at the plate. So much so that Baker moved him from the pitcher’s customary ninth spot in the batting order to eighth in Game 4.
The only other pitcher who didn’t bat ninth in the World Series was Babe Ruth back in 1918. Greinke responded with the first hit by a pitcher in the Fall Classic since Cleveland’s Corey Kluber in 2016.
‘Some of the guys don’t miss it, some pitchers. And there’s some pitchers that absolutely miss it. Like Greinke, he’s dying to hit,’ Baker said earlier this week.
Baker would prefer to see things stay the way they are.
‘I’m in favor of leaving it the way it is. Let the DH stand in the American League, and in the National League play the National League style of ball because they’re both interesting,’ he said.
Braves reliever Jesse Chavez agreed.
‘My personal opinion, I think it should stay the same. I think it’s beneficial for the game because it adds two different aspects. It’s a chess game out there. It’s not checkers,’ he explained.
Braves manager Brian Snitker has spent four decades in the Atlanta system at all levels as a player, coach and skipper. He admits he would miss the double switches, bunts and other aspects of National League strategy.
But after watching the NL use the DH in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season, he saw a lot to like.
‘I just see so many pitchers now that go to the plate and, No. 1, they don’t want to,’ Snitker said. ‘Honestly, I think it will be a better game to watch. It will be more action, more stuff going on.’
‘Prior to experiencing it last year, I was kind of like the old guard. I was not for it. I am for it now,’ he added. ‘Because I see for every Max Fried and Adam Wainwright and Madison Bumgarner, there’s 15 guys who can’t hit. Again, they don’t grow up hitting. They grow up pitching, and they’re not hitting.’
A general view of the field prior to Game Five of the World Series at Atlanta’s Truist Park on Sunday afternoon
For all the latest Sports News Click Here