ATLANTA — A Halloween party that had the potential to become a coronation turned into a celebration of life Sunday night.
That celebration was by the Astros, whose season appeared over after Framber Valdez surrendered a first-inning grand slam to Adam Duvall. The Astros at that point had scored only two runs total over their previous 20 innings.
But those bats thawed over the next eight innings to produce a 9-5 victory over the Braves in Game 5 of the World Series at Truist Park, ensuring this Fall Classic will continue.
Still behind 3-2 in the series, the Astros head home with a chance at winning a second World Series in five years. The series will resume Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.
“The pressure’s still on us because they’ve got the lead,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “But the fact is we are going home. We didn’t want to end here, with the celebration here. We wanted to go home to give us the best chance to win with our fans because you see how important the fans are here to this [Braves] team. They’re equally as important with our team.”
The Braves, in a rare misfire by their dominant bullpen, lost for the first time in eight home games this postseason. Champagne remains on hold as the Braves attempt to win their first World Series since 1995. It just won’t happen on their home turf.
“If we can win a World Series, I don’t care where it is,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I would have loved to do it here, but hopefully we can do it in the next couple of days.”
Methodically, the Astros fought back before pulling away in the later innings. Houston received 6 ¹/₃ innings of shutout relief, in which the Braves managed only four hits.
Martin Maldonado, who owned a .247 OPS this postseason, drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded against A.J. Minter in the fifth that tied it 5-5 and changed the game’s complexion. The ensuing batter, pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez, hit a bloop two-run single that gave the Astros their first lead of the game at 7-5.
“Obviously with Maldonado I could tell he was going up there trying to work a walk,” Minter said. “I tried to aim the ball instead of just driving it to the mitt. That’s the one thing I would take back.”
Maldonado struck again in the seventh, with an RBI single against Drew Smyly that extended the Astros’ lead to 8-5. Kyle Tucker’s double started the rally. Maldonado finished the night with three RBIs. The Astros added a run in the eighth on Carlos Correa’s RBI single.
Freddie Freeman’s 460-foot rocket into the right-field seats leading off the third gave the Braves a 5-4 lead after they had flushed a four-run advantage in the Astros’ previous two at-bats. Freeman’s homer was the first of his career in the World Series.
The Astros scored twice in each of the second and third innings to erase the four-run hole into which they were buried following Duvall’s grand slam in the first.
Alex Bregman, dropped in the batting order to seventh because of his 1-for-14 entering play, stroked an RBI double against Tucker Davidson before Maldonado’s sacrifice fly pulled the Astros within 4-2. Davidson surrendered a single to Yuli Gurriel to begin the rally before walking Kyle Tucker.
Dansby Swanson booted Jose Altuve’s grounder leading off the third for an error and Michael Brantley walked before Correa’s RBI single sliced the Braves’ lead to 4-3. The game was tied moments later on Gurriel’s ground out.
Duvall blasted a grand slam in the first that had the sellout crowd almost tasting the World Series trophy. The grand slam was the 21st in World Series history — the last had been delivered by Bregman against the Nationals in 2019.
“We got excited, and that’s what you do when you hit home runs, but it’s a long game,” Duvall said. “That happened in the bottom of the first. It’s a nine-inning game, and [the Astros] didn’t quit. They kept fighting.”
In the inning, Valdez allowed a leadoff single off Bregman’s glove but recorded two outs before Austin Riley’s single kept the inning alive. Yordan Alvarez’s throw to third on the play allowed Riley to reach second and Eddie Rosario’s ensuing walk loaded the bases. Duvall then cleared the right-field fence for his second homer in the series.
The lefty Valdez lasted just 2 ²/₃ innings and allowed five earned runs on four hits with two walks for his second straight clunker in the series. Valdez allowed five earned runs over two innings in the Astros’ Game 1 loss.