Sunday night’s Game 5 of the World Series started off great for the Atlanta Braves, who took a four-run lead in the bottom of the first off a grand slam from Austin Riley. But the Houston Astros pulled two runs back in the third off an Alex Bregman double and a Martin Maldonado sacrifice fly, and two more in the third on a Carlos Correa double and a Yuli Gurriel groundout. And while the Braves scored another run in the bottom of the third, the Astros were finally able to take their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth.
There, Correa started things off with a single. Yordan Alvarez struck out, but Gurriel singled, and a Kyle Tucker groundout forced the Braves to go to first, leaving them with runners on second and third and two out. Pitcher A.J. Minter then intentionally walked Alex Bregman to load the bases and face #8 hitter Maldonado, but Maldonado drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Correa with the tying run. And pinch-hitter Marwin González (who only joined the Astros in late August on a minor-league deal after being released by the Boston Red Sox, and was a late addition to their World Series roster) then hit a two-run single on the first pitch he saw from Minter:
Marwin Gonzalez’s 2-run single gives the Astros a 7-5 lead 🚀
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/Y5F7tEwMaV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 1, 2021
We’ll see if the Astros can complete the comeback and push the World Series to at least a sixth game. But this single from an unlikely hero in González sure helped to give them a shot.
[@SportsCenter on Twitter; photo from Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.