Puerto Rican wide receiver Martín Maldonado drove in three runs, his compatriot shortstop Carlos Correa and Cuban first baseman Yuli Gurriel each had three hits with the Houston Astros, who defeated the Atlanta Braves 9-5 and remain alive. in the World Series.
The Astros are still at a disadvantage, but they improved to 2-3 in the Fall Classic series that is played to the best of seven and will now have the field advantage again, when on Tuesday they jump to the diamond again to play the Sixth Party, at the Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Houston became the first team to win Game 5 on the road when trailing 1-3 in the World Series since the 1992 Braves.
A bullpens showdown became the first high-scoring game of this Fall Classic, and the highest-scoring team in the majors this year won it.
Maldonado took it upon himself to ignite the Astros’ clubs by hitting once in three trips to the batter’s box and producing three touchdowns.
The Puerto Rican-Cuban dumbbell was in charge of keeping the Astros with the opportunity to get the World Series title, which they already own for the first time in 2017.
In the second inning, Maldonado hit a sacrifice fly to center field and sent ranger Kyle Tucker to the buzzer.
Maldonado’s second RBI was in the fifth inning when he received a passport with the bases loaded and pushed the accountant to Correa
Maldonado closed with a flourish with a single to deep left field, which brought Tucker back to the register.
Venezuelan pinch hitter Marwin González hit a perfect 1-for-1 and drove in two touchdowns, which also left him as the Astros’ winning surprise factor.
In the fifth inning, González singled between left and center fields and drove in the runs of third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Gurriel.
Another Puerto Rican who stood out with the baton was Correa, who in addition to scoring once, produced two runs by hitting three times five times with the bat.
Correa doubled in the third inning to center field, sending Venezuelan second baseman José Altuve to the buzzer.
In the eighth inning, again dumbbells with Altuve, he hit another single to left field and pushed the counter to the Venezuelan.
Correa came in with three hits after being moved to third in the batting order for Game Five. Correa drew attention earlier this postseason for scoring big shots aimed at his wrist, where a watch might be.
The star shortstop doubled and single twice, driving in two runs. His RBI single in the eighth inning filled the lead, and when Altuve received congratulations in the dugout after scoring, “It’s the time!”.
In the third inning, Gurriel grounded to shortstops, giving ranger Michael Brantley a chance to score a run.
Gurriel traveled to the batter’s box five times and hit twice.
While in the second inning Bregman doubled between right and center fields and pushed Gurriel’s run.
Altuve hit once in five dates with the pitcher and once reached the doorbell.
The victory was scored by the Mexican relay José Urquidi (2-0) in one-episode work.
Urquidi threw 14 pitches, of which 10 traveled to the strike zone against four batters.
The Braves’ attack was led by ranger Adam Duvall (2) who hit a grand slam in the first inning against the pitches of Dominican starter Framber Valdez, who again missed with his pitches.
First baseman Freddie Freeman (1) also kicked the ball off the field in the third inning against Valdez, with no runners ahead.
The defeat was carried by the relief AJ Minter (1-1) in one episode.
This time Cuban ranger Jorge Soler, who last night scored the winning homer (3-2) for Atlanta, hit once in five opportunities.
Curaçao’s second baseman Ozzie Albies had no contact with the ball but scored a run on Duvall’s grand slam.
The Puerto Rican ranger Eddie Rosario also did not find the ball, but he reached the buzzer with Duvall’s blow.
Atlanta had been 7-0 at home in the postseason, and a bustling crowd inside Trust Park and the packed plaza outside arrived early in hopes of holding a long-awaited championship, the last time they won the Fall Classic title. It was 1995 and they disputed it, in 1999.
But the Astros silenced those fans and the Braves, pulling off a great comeback to stay alive, as well as regaining the home-court advantage.
The sixth game of the series moves to the home of the Astros, who will raise Venezuelan rookie Luis Garcia as their starter, while the Braves have not reported who they will start with.
No team has achieved a World Series at home since the Boston Red Sox in 2013.
For Altuve and the Astros to do so, they must win twice at Minute Maid Park; the last club to overcome a Series 1-3 deficit was the Chicago Cubs against the Cleveland Indians in 2016.
