HOUSTON IS ALIVE AND EVEN
Astros get boost from rookie Siri, enough from starter Urquidy
HOUSTON
Jose Siri launched himself headfirst into home plate, popped up with arms flexed and screamed with all his might.
Welcome to the World Series, rook.
The career minor leaguer sparked a team whose biggest stars took awhile to shine, sending the Houston Astros to a 7-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night that evened the Fall Classic at one game apiece.
Jose Altuve doubled early, homered late and scored twice to break out at the plate. Siri’s speed and aggressive play created havoc on the bases, leading to a four-run second inning that helped the Astros snap a fivegame skid at home in the World Series.
It’s the first time they’ve won a World Series game in Houston since a 13-12 victory over the Dodgers in 10 innings in Game 5 on Oct. 29, 2017.
Altuve hit a leadoff double and scored in the first inning before adding a solo homer in the seventh as the October-tested Astros rolled past the suddenly sloppy Braves.
Jose Urquidy gave the Astros five solid innings for his second career World Series win and Houston’s bullpen — already so important this postseason — did the rest.
“I was very focused,” said Urquidy, a rookie when he beat Washington in the 2019 Fall Classic. “I love it. I love the feeling.”
The best-of-seven series shifts to Atlanta for the first of three games Friday night, with Ian Anderson scheduled to pitch for the Braves against Astros rookie Luis Garcia. The Astros jumped on Atlanta starter Max Fried for seven hits and six runs — five earned — in five-plus innings.
The game was tied at 1 when Kyle Tucker got things going in the second with a one-out single before advancing to third on a single by Yuli Gurriel. The speedy Siri, who made his major league debut Sept. 3, then beat out an infield single to score Tucker and put the Astros on
top.
That made Siri the first player to debut in September or later and drive in a run in that year’s World Series.
Hey Siri: How does that feel?
Martin Maldonado grounded a single to left fielder Eddie Rosario that scored Gurriel.
The usually fundamentally sound Braves then misplayed things all around. Rosario threw to an unoccupied third base and the ball rolled into foul territory, allowing Siri to dash home on the error.
“We just kind of got caught in between a little bit,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said.
Siri stood at the plate soaking in a moment he thought might never come.
Stuck in the minors since 2013, the excitable 26-yearold outfielder is now a World Siri. Before Wednesday he was most known for almost knocking over 72-year-old manager Dusty Baker en route to celebrating a teammate’s postseason exploits.
The crowd, so quiet a night before, roared as Siri bounded toward the dugout. A fan in the lower deck displayed a sign that read: “Don’t Poke The Bear” as the Astros rediscovered their potent offense after Tuesday night’s dud of a 6-2 loss.
The Braves had a visit at the mound to try and regroup after that fiasco of a play but Fried threw a wild pitch soon after it ended to send Maldonado to third. There were two outs in the inning when Michael Brantley singled to right field, pumping his fist as he left the batter’s box to send another run home that made it 5-1.
Urquidy permitted six hits and two runs while striking out seven and walking none to rebound from a clunker in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series when he allowed five runs while getting just five outs against Boston.
Altuve’s leadoff double got things going for the Astros a day after the star second baseman went 0for-5 in the first three-strikeout game of his postseason career. He advanced to third on a fly ball by Brantley before scoring on Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
Urquidy got off to a much better start than teammate Framber Valdez did in Game 1. It was a low bar, though, after Valdez was rocked for a leadoff homer by Jorge Soler on Tuesday night.
Urquidy struck out his first two batters before allowing consecutive singles to Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. Soler then came to the plate, and the right-hander avoided the first-inning trouble Valdez got into when he fanned the big designated hitter to escape the jam.
Travis d’Arnaud homered for Atlanta in the second to tie it 1-all. Dansby Swanson singled, but Gurriel grabbed Rosario’s liner to first base for the third out.
An RBI single by Freddie Freeman cut the lead to 5-2 in the fifth.
“Obviously, you want to win two. But if you get out of here with a split, then that’s a good thing going home,” Snitker said.