It worked, and it made him one of the central figures of an Astros win that forced a Game 6 on Tuesday back in Houston. “(My approach) was pretty much ‘try and be patient.’” “I wasn’t going to swing to get a strike,” Maldonado said. And it preceded Marwin Gonzalez’s go-ahead, pinch-hit, two-run single to left field that gave the Astros a lead they did not relinquish.Īnd most of all, it was Maldonado, the light-hitting 35-year-old catcher who is there for his defense and leadership, and who came into Game 5 having drawn merely one walk in the last five weeks. It was against Minter, a postseason star of the Braves bullpen. It was quite literally the highest-leverage plate appearance of the game. If the Astros go on to win this World Series, Maldonado’s plate-crowding, bases-loaded, two-out walk to tie Game 5 on Sunday night will go down among the most memorable plate appearances of the comeback. “Did you guys notice how close he was to the plate on the at-bat against (A.J.) Minter?” Correa asked the assembled reporters. He chimed in just as Maldonado finished a response about his three-RBI night. Martín Maldonado was already seated and several answers in about his pivotal role in World Series Game 5, which saw the Astros erase a first-inning grand slam in an incredible come-from-behind 9-5 win against the Braves to keep their season alive. In the bowels of Truist Field, Carlos Correa stepped up to the dais for his postgame press conference. But this is a team with a burning intensity and enduring toughness, and that is why this Series was not about to end in five games. In 2017 and ’18, the Astros went too far, engaging in illegal electronic sign stealing that left the franchise scarred and the players scorned. The players and coaches are always working, always talking through the game, always seeking an edge. But with the Astros, it’s never simply about a manager’s decisions working out, or a general manager’s trades looking brilliant. Baker also succeeded with two of his pinch-hitting moves, the first with Zack Greinke(!), the second with Marwin Gonzalez, whose two-out, two-run, go-ahead single in the fifth was perhaps the biggest hit of the night. All three of the affected players contributed Sunday night to comebacks from deficits of 4-0 in the first inning and 5-4 in the third, helping the Astros defeat the Braves, 9-5, avoid elimination and send the Series back to Houston. He also dropped Bregman to the seventh spot, his lowest position in a start since Aug. Thus, Astros manager Dusty Baker did what he had to do for Game 5, moving Correa to the third spot in front of Alvarez and Gurriel to the fifth spot in front of the red-hot Kyle Tucker. 7 hitter Yuli Gurriel had been intentionally walked twice ahead of the pitcher’s spot in the previous game. 5 hitter Carlos Correa was slumping to the point where cleanup man Yordan Alvarez was getting few pitches to hit. The lineup changes were both necessary and dramatic.Įntering Game 5 of the World Series, the Astros had scored only four runs in their three losses, going 4-for-31 with runners in scoring position.
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