The Astros versus Everyone tour continues.
A first-inning grand slam by the Braves during a potential World Series elimination game inside a shaking and roaring road stadium?
Whatever.
Atlanta up 4-0 in Game 5 and already holding a 3-1 series advantage in the Fall Classic?
Hello, Houston.
The Astros are still alive in 2021. And they are returning to Minute Maid Park for another World Series game.
With Atlanta one win away from its first world championship in 26 years, Dusty Baker’s team overcame two more deficits with a 9-5 comeback victory on Sunday night.
“We don’t really worry about what other people say or what they think. It’s what you think of yourself and what you think of each other on the team that really counts,” Baker said. “These guys are together. They’ve been through many of these battles. So they don’t know how to quit, and they’re always looking for an edge or an opening.”
In the first inning, Truist Park went Braves crazy. By the end of the eighth, Atlanta fans were streaming out of the aisles and trying to get out of the flashy suburban ballpark as quickly as possible.
“I’m a huge MMA fan and I’ve seen lots of guys almost knocked out and they battle back to win the fight,” Carlos Correa said. “We were down 3-1. Now we’re still down 3-2. I truly believe if there’s one team that can accomplish that in this league, it’s us. We’re going to stay confident, go out there and battle every single inning and try to win every pitch.”
Game 6 is set for 8:09 p.m. on Tuesday in Houston.
The Astros will need to win that one to force a winner-take-all Game 7. Then they must win that one to become the eighth team in Major League Baseball history to overcome a 3-1 World Series deficit.
But Game 5 was the big first test for these Astros. And what a comeback it was.
On the road. Inside a stadium that reveled in three straight days with a World Series game. After almost being no-hit in Game 3 and losing Game 4 via back-to-back home runs during a stunning seventh inning.
Lesser teams would have fallen apart in Game 5, especially after Adam Duvall suddenly made it 4-0 Braves in the first. Then it was 5-4 Atlanta in the third with Braves fans chanting and counting outs.
The Astros dug in, rediscovered their bats and used a long list of names (Martín Maldonado, Marwin Gonzalez, Zack Greinke) to keep fighting back, proving themselves yet again on a national stage.
“I really believe in miracles because I’ve had a few of them happen to me in my life,” Baker said before Game 5.
Win two more against Atlanta and another orange-and-blue parade in downtown Houston will follow the latest miracle.
Baker’s resilient club, which overcame a 2-1 deficit to Boston in the American League Championship Series, prevented the Braves from winning their third consecutive home game in this series.
This is becoming an inspiring trend for Houston’s MLB team.
The 2017 ALCS and World Series. The 2019 World Series. A 29-31 regular-season record in 2020 and that ALCS. For all the doubt, criticism and hate the Astros have faced the last two seasons, they have almost always answered the negativity with inner strength and outward resilience.
Count them out and they fight back harder.
Swear that they’re finally done and they find some way to wow you again.
No wonder Houston believes so strongly in its baseball team.
“You really don’t know until you get there if you can do it,” Baker said. “This team has a very strong mind, strong will -- dealing with adversity, dealing with booing, dealing with this, with the amount of negative energy that was cast our way throughout the year.”
Sunshine finally arrived for the Astros in Game 5 of this World Series. Rain disappeared, a loose Astros team conducted its first pregame batting practice inside Truist Pak, and infielders traded laughs as the first pitch drew near.
“(Sunday) really felt like the World Series because they got to go on the field and see all the people and see all the media,” Baker said. “It felt like the World Series, where the others felt like we were coming out of the dungeon and just going to play.”
But the bottom of the first inning was brutal for the road team and reinforced Baker’s plea for a miracle. Duvall lifted a 95 mph offering into right field, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead. Truist Park boomed, as fireworks exploded and fans danced.
The grand slam was the fourth against the Astros in the playoffs and knocked Baker’s team into an even deeper Fall Classic hole.
Alex Bregman got a run back in the second, lining an RBI double and cutting Atlanta’s advantage to 4-1. Correa lined an RBI double to left-center field and Yuli Gurriel drove in another run. Atlanta’s 4-0 fireworks had become a 4-4 tie, with Truist Park going quiet and getting antsy, and the Braves’ latest bullpen game falling apart on the mound.
Atlanta fired back again. Freddie Freeman took Framber Valdez deep to center field, handing the Braves a 5-4 lead with a 460-foot home run that re-electrified the stadium. Valdez didn’t make it through the third and the back-and-forth bullpen battle of Game 5 had begun.
Gonzalez, a 2017 hero for the Astros, made it 7-5 Astros.
Maldonado, a veteran catcher who specializes in defense, drove in his third run of Game 5 and added another run to the Astros’ lead.
Baker’s team believed. Baker’s team refused to go away quietly in the Atlanta night.
Braves 4-0 was nothing on Sunday. Atlanta’s 26-year celebration would have to wait.
The Astros were fighting for life.
The Astros were coming back home to Houston, two wins away from another world championship and a November miracle.
