For the second night in a row, we witnessed a thrilling game and a dud. The Astros and Rays have been giving us a competitive series with games that could have easily gone either way. The Braves and Dodgers gave us a close Game Two and an arguably competitive Game One. The last to games have been stinkers, there’s no way around it. Baseball can be a funny game sometimes, it can also be unpredictable, as we have learned the past few days. Two of the teams are only one win away from the World Series and can clinch their spots tomorrow night. As I did yesterday, I will quote Yogi Berra with the classic “it ain’t over ’til it’s over”.
Astros-Rays
The stars on the Astros step up again
The Astros and Rays have honestly been a unique clash in styles of play. The Astros beat you with their star players. They’ve done so for the past few postseasons (Springer, Altuve, Correa, Trash Can) and are doing it again. The Rays on the other hand possess the rarity to beat you with any player on any given night. We witnessed how both teams executed their styles of play throughout the game.
George Springer started the Astro scoring with the first pitch of the game. The Rays opener John Curtiss served Springer a 95MPH fastball right over the middle of the plate. Springer didn’t need to do much to send the ball flying out. With a quick and powerful swing, Springer pulled the ball into the warehouse which might be a magnet of some kind for home run balls in this ALCS. At the bottom of the third inning, we saw the Astros stars deliver once again. Michael Brantley was able to pull a single into right field with the bases loaded to drive in 2 runs. The oddity of this series is that the hit was not the best play of the inning. The next at-bat saw Jose Altuve hit a sharp grounder that Joey Wendle snatched at third and completed the double play to end the inning.
The Rays tie game with three solo shots
Brandon Lowe has been rather quiet at the plate in the playoffs. One of the leaders in the Rays batting order during the season, went 22 days without hitting a home run. After dazzling with his fielding in the earlier part of the series, Lowe sent a ball that carried into deep center field to put the Rays on the board. This spoke volumes to the Rays roster depth. The team leader in home runs can go cold from the plate and the team looks like it never lost a step (imagine if Mookie Betts couldn’t hit for 22 days and think if the Dodgers would be able to recover from it).
With a 3-1 deficit, the Rays got help from their best hitter in the postseason. Randy Arozarena is having a postseason that has put him alongside baseball greats, even though he is only a rookie. Randy proved that his homers have not been a rarity with his top of the 5th blast. He powered a low fastball to right-center field to bring the game to within one run. With Arozarena hitting his 6th home run this postseason, you have to wonder why pitchers are still throwing him strikes. Statistically, it would make more sense to intentionally walk him every time he is at-bat.
Ji-Man Choi hasn’t been relevant much this postseason. After his homer in Game One of the ALDS, Choi has only had one RBI in the postseason, and only a single in the two games he played in the ALCS. Ji-Man Choi couldn’t have had a better day at the plate in Game Five. He went 2 for 2 with the game-tying homer in the 8th inning. Choi was served a low and inside fastball, the ideal spot for any lefty slugger to knock out of the park (he did just that).
Correa walks off another game for the Astros
All the momentum was on the Rays side, this became their game. The Rays came back and now had a bullpen duel with one of the best bullpens in the game. It felt like a matter of time before the Rays would win the game and subsequently the pennant. The pitch that Nick Anderson threw did not miss it’s location, unlike several homers that we have witnessed this postseason. The high and outside fastball was for all intents and purposes meant to have Correa swing and either foul off or miss, thus expanding the strike zone and giving Anderson a 1-2 count. Instead, Correa got just enough on his swing and just enough barrel on the ball to power the pitch to straightaway center field where the wind could carry it out of the park.
Carlos Correa walked off the Houston Astros, gave them another day to play. This raises much doubt among many who bought into the Rays as the best team in baseball. The Rays have many times in the last two games convinced us that they were going to win the game and thus the series. It appears the magic that worked for the first three games has worn off. The series now turns to the ace pitchers for both teams. More importantly, a second look at the Rays pitchers for the Astros hitters. If anyone knows anything about the Astros hitters it is that they get better with each at-bat they see the same pitcher. This series is still technically in the Rays control but only barely.
Braves-Dodgers
Six in the sixth
Unlike the first game of the night, this game can be pointed to one pitcher and one inning. Once again we wonder if Clayton Kershaw will ever shake the playoff woes that have haunted him throughout his career. Similar to David Price, Kershaw is incredible during the regular season yet gets battered in the playoffs. Like David Price, Kershaw will need a postseason where he proves the doubters wrong, controls game after game on the way to a World Series. This won’t be the year, the Dodgers may win, but not with Kershaw.
With the game tied at 1 on the bottom of the sixth inning, we saw the Braves figure out Kershaw. This notably occurred in the third round through the batting order. It started with Ronald Acuna chopping a base hit that moved him to second base on an errant throw. Then Freddie Freeman, who has been clutch in the previous Braves victories, powered a hard grounder past the first baseman for an RBI double. This was followed by a breaking ball that Kershaw left over the plate, one that Marcell Osuna lined into the gap for an RBI double. Kershaw was knocked out of the game and could only watch the damage get worse from there.
Dansby Swanson connected for a grounder down the third-base line to plate 2. Austin Riley grounded one up the middle for a base hit to drive in another. Christian Pache almost imitated Riley with a grounder up the middle to drive in the sixth run of the inning. The odd part about the inning is that none of the runs came with a homer. The game has become so accustomed to the longball that the Braves method of scoring felt unusual and confusing to anyone that has watched baseball in recent years. This Braves lineup is loaded with power, yet the game felt like a throwback with the Braves slicing and driving line drives across the field and allowing their athletes to circle the bases.
The game was essentially over after the rally
The Dodgers scored a run in the top of the seventh that may have excited a few fans into thinking that a comeback was on the horizon. The thought was quickly erased when the Dodgers failed to score another run the rest of the night and the Braves kept piling on the runs as if it were payback for the drubbing on Wednesday night. Marcell Osuna hit a homer in the seventh and drove in his 4th run of the night in the eighth inning. Freddie Freeman continued his hot hitting as well with a late RBI single as the Braves put Game 5 to rest.
The Braves are one win away from their first World Series in 21 years. They know how close they are from the promised territory but know how hard the next victory will be. The people of Atlanta are used to heartbreak from their sports teams, they know that no lead is safe. For a city that has gone through enough pain from their sports teams, they know not to buy in until the clock hits zero (or in the case of baseball, until the final out is made). The Dodgers are aware of the stakes in an upset defeat. They know that this season was Championship or Bust, this off-season will be a tough one if they can’t comeback.
