Astros win incredible game, take a 3-2 lead
In the bottom of the fourth inning of game five of the World Series, the Houston Astros faced a daunting task. They were facing Clayton Kershaw, one of the best pitchers of all time, and they were down 4-0.
Then the real fun started. You could almost hear Eye of the Tiger playing as the Astros fought back and the teams exchanged their best shots for the rest of the game.
Yuli Gurriel capped off a four run Astros fourth with a three run homer to tie the game at four and what started off as an expected pitching duel turned into an offensive game.
Cody Bellinger would give the Dodgers a three run lead in the top half of the fifth, but Jose Altuve followed with a three run homer in the bottom of the fifth and the game was tied once again, this time at 7.
After a scoreless sixth, the Dodgers would score one run in the top of the seventh, but the Astros would take their first lead in the bottom of the seventh when George Springer and Carlos Correa homered to give Houston an 11-8 lead.
Of course, in this World Series, no lead will seem secure until the 27th out is made, and after the eighth inning saw the Dodgers tally another run, Brian McCann answered back with a solo shot to give the Astros a three run lead once again, this time at 12-9.
Now the Astros only needed three outs to finish the Dodgers off in nine innings, but of course that wasn’t going to happen.
After a Bellinger walk, the Astros got out number one but, much like Jason Voorhees, the Dodgers just wouldn’t die. Yasiel Puig hit a one-handed homer down the left field line to pull the Dodgers back within one at 12-11. Austin Barnes followed with a double but Houston was able to get out number two. Of course, this game wasn’t meant to end here, and Chris Taylor tied the game up with an RBI single and the game headed to the bottom of the ninth, tied at 12.
Gurriel almost won the game with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth, but the ball hit off the fence for a double and he was stranded to send the game to extra innings.
A scary moment in the tenth for Astros fans when Bellinger, who has been red-hot this World Series, just got under a pitch and flew out to the right field warning track.
When there are high-scoring football games, you will hear "The team that has the ball last will win the game." Thankfully, the Astros were playing at home in this game, and had the last at-bat.
After all the long balls that this series has seen, it was ironic that a single delivered the winning run as Alex Bregman deliver the RBI base hit and the Astros walked off with a 13-12 win that gave them a 3 games to 2 lead in the World Series.
Five different Astros hit home runs to set the record. 22 home runs have been hit in this World Series, also a new record. The teams combined for over 400 pitches thrown in this game. The game lasted 5 hours and 17 minutes.
As a baseball fan, this is absolutely in my personal “Top Ten games I have ever seen” along with game two of this series. I would love to see the state of Texas finally bring home a World Series title, but as a Rangers fan, I have to offer a word of caution. The Rangers were up three games to two over the Cardinals in the 2011 World Series, but the Cards came back and won.
Hopefully Houston keeps fighting in game six.
With Justin Verlander scheduled to start game six, the Astros have a good shot to finish off the Monster That Keeps Coming Back once and for all.