Braves' Bats Heat Up Early But Falter In A World Series Game 5 Loss At Home

ATLANTA — After early Atlanta Braves hitting set up a likely Halloween thriller in the World Series, Houston Astros’ bats came alive to turn Game 5 into a 9-5 nightmare loss.

With only one game to win capture the Fall Classic and the World Championship at home, the Braves were not able to close out the Astros Sunday night and will return to Houston for a Game 6 on Tuesday night.

Inside Truist Park and in the Battery, the dining and entertainment complex surrounding the ballpark, fans packed in hoping to be able to witness the Braves win the first World Series win in 26 years.

And from the start of the Braves lineup, it seemed like there might be reason to celebrate.

Runs came on early when in the bottom of the first Duvall sent a grand slam moonshot to right field to score Eddie Rosario, Freddie Freeman, and Ozzie Albies.

But the Astros were able to swing their way back into the game over the next two innings. In the top of the second inning, Alex Bregman doubled, scoring Yuli Gurriel and sending Kyle Tucker to third. Then Tucker scored on a Martin Maldonado sacrifice fly to center field.

In the third inning, Carlos Correa sent Michael Brantly to third base and scored Jose Altuve with a line-drive single to center field. Gurriel grounded out in a fielder’s choice that scored a Brantly tying run.

The braves took back the lead in the next frame when Freddie Freeman blasted a flyball to right-centerfield for a solo home run.

Down the stretch, however, the strain on the Braves’ bullpen began to show. Unable to orchestrate outs in the fifth, Atlanta’s defense found itself facing two runners on base with Bregman at bat.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker decided to intentionally walk Bregman, loading the bases. But reliever A.J. Minter struggled to hit his spots and walked Martin Maldonado, scoring Correa and tying the game. Next up, Marwin Gonzales hit a single to deep left field on his first pitch to score Gurriel and Bregman for the two-run lead.

In the top of the seventh, Maldonado hit an RBI single to the deep left-field corner to drive Martin home, extending the Astros’ lead.

After stealing second base on a close call in the top of the eighth, and advancing to third on a Michael Brantley groundball out, Altuve added another run when Correa singled to shallow left field.

Atlanta could not get their bats active again and went on to lose.

Game 6 begins Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EST from Minute Maid park in Houston and will be broadcast nationally on TV by Fox and carried by ESPN Radio with streaming on YouTube TV and Hulu Live.

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