Braves methodically build case for title
Game 1: Braves 6, Astros 2
Oct. 26, 2021; Houston
Atlanta, numb to catastrophic injuries at this juncture, still manages to roll to victory at Minute Maid Park despite losing veteran starter Charlie Morton to a fractured right fibula. Morton is smacked by a 102.4-mph comebacker by Yuli Gurriel that is hit so hard it caroms off his ankle and rolls directly to first baseman Freddie Freeman. Morton stays in the game and in the next 10 pitches strikes out Chas McCormick and induces a lineout by Martin Maldonado. He comes back out in the third inning and strikes out Jose Altuve on six pitches, but on the last one, an 80-mph curveball, he stumbles off the mound and nearly falls to the ground. He then comes out of the game. He leaves for X-rays, which reveal the injury, ending his season.
It leaves general manager Alex Anthopoulos scrambling for reinforcements, as he has done all year. He made six trades in July, acquiring four outfielders. Two of the team’s new outfielders, Jorge Soler and Adam Duvall, drive in four of the runs in Game 1.
Soler becomes the first batter to hit a leadoff homer in the top of the first in World Series history, and it only goes downhill for the Astros. They are down 2-0 after the first four batters of the game, 3-0 after the first 10 batters, and 5-0 after the first 15 batters.
To this point, the new outfield quartet of Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, Duvall and Soler has driven in 28 of the team’s 45 runs in the postseason, accounting for 62% of their runs. Quotable: “They complete our team, those guys, and they’ve been big for us since they got here, and they’re continuing to be every day.” – loss you have to forget yesterday. That’s one of the keys. This team is excellent at forgetting yesterday.” – Astros manager
muster only one more hit in the ninth inning.
It is the longest no-hit bid in a World Series game since one by Boston’s Jim Lonborg of Game 2 of the 1967 World Series, when he went 7 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. No matter, Tyler Matzek calmly strikes out pinch-hitter Jason Castro for the first out. Jose Altuve pops up for the second out. And, after pinch-runner Jose Siri then steals second base and advances to third on catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s errant throw, Matzek induces a weak pop-up from Michael Brantley. D’Arnaud ices the game with a two-out homer over the center field wall in the bottom of the eighth.
Quotable: “The kid is so mature. But we got a lot of threeball counts. The biggest credit to Ian is he never stops trying to make pitches, making pitches. He never gives in. He stays with his stuff. He stays with the game plan. If it doesn’t work, he goes to the next hitter and starts anew.” – Snitker on Anderson, 23, who became the first pitcher since Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson in 19051911 to yield two or fewer earned runs in his first five postseason starts.
The Braves’ Dylan Lee becomes the first pitcher whose first start was in a World Series game. He lasts just 15 pitches. Reliever Kyle Wright is rushed into the game with a one-out, bases-loaded jam. He escapes, with the only run scoring when Jose Altuve scampers home on Carlos Correa’s ground out. Altuve, with the organist playing, “It’s a Small World After All,” hits the 23nd home run of his postseason career in the fourth inning. It is the second most in history behind only Manny Ramirez’s 29 homers in 111 postseason games. Altuve hits his 23rd homer in just 77 postseason games. Quotable: “This is our house. We’re coming tomorrow with that energy and that focus. We know they’re a resilient group and they don’t give up, but we have our heads high right now, and we’re going to be ready to play.” –