Astros burst ahead, hold off Phillies to tie World Series at one game apiece
Framber Valdez made a five-run lead stand up after Houston’s lightning first-inning burst, Alex Bregman homered, and the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Saturday night to tie the World Series at one win apiece.
Just like in Game 1, the Astros rushed to a 5-0 lead. Unlike ace Justin Verlander in the opener, Valdez and Houston held on.
Valdez rebounded from a pair of poor outings in last year’s World Series to pitch scoreless ball into the seventh, and the bullpen survived a couple of jams to close things out.
“Framber did a great job,” said Jose Altuve, who broke out of a four-for-37 postseason slump with three hits. “Just amazing performance by him and our bullpen as well.”
Altuve, Jeremy Pena and Yordan Álvarez all doubled as Houston took a two-run lead four pitches in against Zack Wheeler. A throwing error by shortstop Edmundo Sosa allowed another run in the first, and Bregman added a two-run homer in the fifth.
Yordan Álvarez was briefly in the Dodgers organization in 2016 before the team traded him. Now he’s an elite slugger with the Houston Astros and in the World Series.
A day after coming back for a 6-5 win in 10 innings, Philadelphia tried to rally in this one too.
With the Phillies trailing by four runs, Kyle Schwarber hit a drive deep down the right-field line with a man on in the eighth inning against Rafael Montero that was originally ruled a two-run homer by right-field-line umpire James Hoye.
First-base umpire Tripp Gibson signaled for the umps to conference, and the call was reversed on a crew chief review when it was determined the ball was just to the foul side of the pole.
Schwarber, who led the National League with 46 home runs this season and has added three more in the playoffs, then hit a long drive that was caught at the right-field wall.
Ryan Pressly finished the combined six-hitter, giving up a run on an error by first baseman Yuli Gurriel on ex-Angel Brandon Marsh’s grounder.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says he believes Oakland is running out of time to keep the Athletics, but isn’t about to declare Las Vegas their new home.
After the split in Houston, the Series resumes in Philadelphia on Monday night when Citizens Bank Park plays host to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
Of 61 previous World Series tied 1-1, the Game 2 winner went on to win the title 31 times — but just four of the last 14.
After struggling to a 19.29 ERA in a pair of World Series starts in last year’s six-game loss to the Atlanta Braves, Valdez pitched with polish and poise. His cheeks glistening with sweat, the 28-year-old left-hander struck out nine and walked three, giving up four hits in 6 1/3 innings.
He blew by batters with a fastball averaging 95.6 mph and baffled them with his curveball, which got six of his strikeouts — three of them looking. Unusually, he changed his glove and spikes mid-outing.
When the Phillies put two runners on for the only time against him in the sixth, Valdez struck out Game 1 star J.T. Realmuto with high heat, then got Bryce Harper to bounce a first-pitch sinker into an inning-ending double play.
“His sinker was fantastic. His curveball was pretty good,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “His putaway pitches were good.”
Thomson didn’t take issue with Valdez rubbing his palm — social media was abuzz, wondering whether there was some substance there.
“The umpires check these guys after almost every inning, and if there’s something going on, MLB will take care of it,” Thomson said. “We saw it the last time he started too.”
Nick Castellanos led off the Phillies’ seventh with a double, and Valdez left the game after a groundout advanced the runner. Montero gave up Jean Segura’s sacrifice fly to the left-field warning track.
A day after the deflating defeat, the Astros came out swinging and became the first team to open a World Series game with three consecutive extra-base hits.
Altuve lined a sinker into left, and Pena drove a curveball into the left-field corner for a 1-0 lead.
Álvarez fouled off a pitch and drove a slider high off the 19-foot wall in left.
“I was pulling for a fourth, actually,” Baker said. “Try to score as many runs as you can. Because you know Wheeler is one of the tougher guys in baseball.”
Wheeler should have escaped down just 2-0, but shortstop Edmundo Sosa bounced his throw to first on Gurriel’s three-hopper for an error, the ball glancing off the mitt of first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
Bregman, healthy after two injury-hampered seasons, hit a two-run homer to left field in the fifth when Wheeler left a slider over the middle of the plate. Bregman has six career World Series homers and three this postseason with nine RBIs.
Wheeler gave up five runs — four earned — six hits and three walks in five innings, a day after Aaron Nola struggled.
“I think everybody deserves a poor start every once in a while,” Thomson said. “Those guys have been so good for us for so long, and I fully expect them to come back and be ready to go and pitch well for us.”
The Phillies’ comeback win in 10 innings over the Astros in Game 1 of the World Series underlines why a title for Philadelphia isn’t just wishful thinking.
Big difference in wins
Houston won 106 games during the regular season and Philadelphia 87, the second-highest win disparity in a World Series behind the 93-win Chicago White Sox beating the 116-win Chicago Cubs in 1906.
Up next
Right-hander Noah Syndergaard, acquired from the Angels this season, will start Game 3 for the Phillies, and right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will pitch for the Astros. Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez will take the mound for Game 4, and left-hander Cristian Javier likely will go for Houston.
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