World Series Game 5: Houston Astros v Atlanta Braves – live! – The Guardian

Astros 2-4 Braves, top 2nd

Valdez strikes out looking, but a big inning for the Astros as they slice into the Braves lead. Perhaps more importantly, Bregman put together a good at-bat and drove the ball to the deep part of the park, something that’s been missing from this lineup.

It’s a 2-2 count to the Astros catcher, who then skies a ball to center that’s deep enough for Tucker to tag. He comes home, while Bregman moves to third.

Two runs in this inning to calm the nerves of Astros fans a touch.

Valdez is next.

Control is becoming a bit of a factor here as Davidson falls behind 2-0 on Bregman, missing outside. Great hitters count right here, but Bregman lets a slider go by, that’s a strike. This time he’s swinging: foul. So the count is at 2-2.

That looked like a pitch to hit right there, but Bregman missed it.

But Bregman didn’t miss the 2-2! He hits a ball deep into the gap in right-center field! Guriell is coming around to score, while Tucker stops at third!

That’s the biggest hit for Bregman this series. Here comes Maldonado with runners at second and third with one out.

Astros 0-4 Braves, top 2nd

Davidson, wearing his socks pulled high, has himself a 2-2 count after Tucker fouls off a good fastball up in the zone. Now the lefty is inside to the left-handed Tucker and we have a full count.

Tucker deals a slider that’s again inside. So now the Astros have a two on, one out situation with the ice-cold Bregman at the plate. And wouldn’t it feel good for Houston to come right back with something right here?

Astros 0-4 Braves, top 2nd

The Astros have a knock in the form of a line drive base hit to center by Gurriel. Here comes Tucker.

Astros 0-4 Braves, top 2nd

So Houston have 24 outs to figure this all out. Actually, make that 23: Alvarez gives it a ride to left but Rosario has room and puts it away.

Here’s Gurriel.

Astros 0-4 Braves, bottom 1st

So the Cobb County crowd goes bananas as their Bravos jump on top. Meanwhile, d’Arnaud grounds out to end the inning, but that won’t stop the party.

Duvall lifts it to right and it’s up and over the wall!

The Braves slugger has put the home team up 4-0 in the first inning!

Astros 0-0 Braves, bottom 1st

With first base open, Valdez is being careful with the dangerous Rosario. Very careful: Rosario is walked to load the bases, and now it’s up to Adam Duvall to make Houston pay.

Astros 0-0 Braves, bottom 1st

Braves batters aren’t waiting around for Valdez – he takes the second pitch he sees and slaps it into left field! Albies slides into third while Riley glides into second base!

So it’s second and third with two down and NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario at the plate, trying to put the Braves on top!

Astros 0-0 Braves, bottom 1st

Now it’s Framber’s turn, as the Astros lefty faces the tall, lanky Soler. And Soler lines a screamer towards third and Bregman can’t handle the short hop (who could?).

The Braves are in business with a leadoff single. Freeman steps in, and he swings first pitch, lifting the ball to center where Tucker makes the catch.

So Freeman quickly comes and goes and now Albies is also first pitch swinging: he grounds to short: Correa throws to second for the force but can’t get Albies, who reaches on a fielder’s choice.

Now Riley steps in.

Astros 0-0 Braves, top 1st

Golly: Correa is hitting just .143, and he didn’t quite hit his weight in the ALCS either. And on top of that, he’s down in the count to Davidson, 0-2. Correa gets a fastball that he lines through the legs of Davidson and up to second where Albies makes the stab: he steps on second for one, and then fires to first for the double play!

So the kid faces the minimum in the first, which is music (hopefully not chop music) to Brian Snitker. Side retired – here come the Braves.

Astros 0-0 Braves, top 1st

Davidson runs the count full to Brantley before losing the Astros right fielder to a fastball low and away. That’s a one-out walk, and an opportunity for Carlos Correa to make the kid pay for the free pass.

Astros 0-0 Braves, top 1st

Davidson, wearing a high Spring Training number of 64 in a significantly higher stakes environment, throws a high fastball that Altuve chases and lifts to shortstop – it’s an easy put away for hometown hero Dansby Swanson, and that’s the first out of the night. Michael Brantley is next.

And away we go! Tucker Davidson deals a slider over the plate to to Jose Altuve and Game 5 is on!

Script writing

So yesterday I tweeted into this blog about seeing an upper case “E” amongst the lowercase letters on the Braves uniform. Somehow, I had never noticed that before.

In ending this topic once and for all, I have some feedback that I thought I’d leave right here:

National Anthem

A local singer/songwriter Lauren Alaina is singing in an acoustic version of the Star Spangled Banner. I am ignoring the acoustic guitar because although I find it super annoying, I’m here to judge Ms Alaina on her rendition. And you know what? She was pretty classy overall, keeping her focus as some military dude skydived onto the field, just at the end of the song. He stole some of the attention, but I’m giving her 7/10.

Atlanta Braves Lineup

Right fielder Joc Pederson is out in favor of Jorge Soler who had the enormous pinch-hit home run last night. Plus, the Cuban is raking.

1. Jorge Soler, RF

2. Freddie Freeman, 1B

3. Ozzie Albies, 2B4. Auston Riley, 3B

5. Eddie Rosario, LF

6. Adam Duvall, CF

7. Travis d’Arnaud, C

8. Dansby Swanson, SS

9. Tucker Davidson, P

Houston Astros Lineup

We have changes: Alex Bregman is dropped to seventh, presumably for hitting like a pitcher, and Correa, who also hasn’t hit much, is moving up to third. So let’s see if this little shakeup helps energize this dormant lineup.

1. Jose Altuve, 2B

2. Michael Brantley, RF

3. Carlos Correa, SS

4. Yordan Alvarez, LF

5. Yuli Gurriel, 1B

6. Kyle Tucker, CF

7. Alex Breegman, 3B

8. Martin Maldonado, C

9. Framer Valdez, P

The Starters

So, who is starting for the Braves as they bid for their first World Series title since 1995? No, it’s not Charlie Morton: he would’ve been on the hill if not for fracturing his right fibula in Game 1. So instead, it’s that household name, Tucker Davidson. If you’re wondering who he exactly Tucker is, well, he’s a rookie who hasn’t appeared in the big leagues in 138 days. That’s breaks a record for time not appearing prior to a World Series start set by none other than Kyle Wright, another rookie, who started Game 2 for the Braves: he hadn’t pitched in 126 days. So perhaps the Braves are on to something with cold arms and rookies: Ian Anderson, who started Game 3 is also in his first season of Major League Baseball.

So we’ll se how long Tucker can go tonight. One thing we do know is that AJ Minter should feature for the Braves this game as he did not appear last night.

On the hill for the Astros was Game 1 starter Framber Valdez, who was reasonably awful against the Braves in their first tilt: two innings, five runs allowed. He’ll need that slider working tonight to give Houston that something special they’ll need to win on the road in a hostile environment.

More to come. Stick with us…

Hello folks and welcome to our coverage of Game 5 of the 117th World Series!

We’re extra excited because, as they say, the “piece of metal” is in the house, and that of course means that we could crown a champion tonight. The Braves are up three games to one in this best of seven series, and that means that veteran Houston manager Dusty Baker is on the precipice of an 11th playoff ousting and a second defeat in the Fall Classic. Yet, there is still hope for Houston. The Bravos have to piece together another game out of their bullpen, and if the Astros bats suddenly spring to life, as they are more than capable of doing, and eek out a victory tonight, they’ll be awarded with a trip home for Game 6 and a possible Game 7. A is most definitely possible and so nobody should even think about getting ahead of themselves.

That said, these Braves, despite the uncharacteristic series of mistakes last night, are a steady, solid outfit, with playmakers all over the diamond, and will benefit from their chopping crowd for their last home game of the 2021 season.

And so as we wait for the first pitch we all wonder: will the Braves life the piece of metal tonight? All will be revealed as Game 5 unravels before your pixels. For now, why not get comfortable and prepare by joining our live blog? Tweet me, @LengelDavid. Or, alternatively, why not drop me a line with your thoughts and feelings about anything you like. Yes, you can get your name in the paper quit easily.

We’ll have lineups, and other drops for you shortly. Stick with us!

David will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how Game 4 played out:

A guy who spent most of the season in the minors kept the Braves in it. Then the offense finally came to life.

Just like that, Atlanta are one win from their first World Series title in 26 years.

Dansby Swanson and pinch-hitter Jorge Soler connected for back-to-back homers in the seventh inning Saturday night, propelling the Braves to a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros and a commanding 3-1 Series lead.

The Braves can wrap up the championship on their home field, just as they did two stadiums ago when they beat the Cleveland Indians in 1995.

That triumph at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium remains the franchise’s only World Series crown since moving to the South in 1966.