Astros rally to beat Atlanta in Game 5, stay alive in World Series

ATLANTA — Just in time, Carlos Correa and the Houston Astros broke out the bats.

Because if they had waited any longer, this World Series would’ve been over.

Staggered by Adam Duvall’s grand slam in the first inning of Game 5 on Sunday night, the Astros rallied to beat Atlanta, 9-5, and cut their Series deficit to 3-2.

Atlanta might not admit it was a deflating defeat; 66-year-old manager Brian Snitker is too steady and savvy for that. But by any measure in the Analytics Age, this had to sting.

"I’m just glad we get to go back to Houston. That was our goal today," Astros manager Dusty Baker said.

Correa came through with a double, two singles and two RBIs after getting moved up to third in the lineup for Game 5, with Alex Bregman dropped from third to seventh. Martin Maldonado found three different ways to drive in runs and pinch hitter Marwin Gonzalez blooped a two-out, two-run single in the fifth for a 7-5 lead.

"It was tough. But before the game we talked and we said, ‘We’re not gonna give up,’ " Correa said.

A night earlier, the Astros went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in a 3-2 loss. At that point, Houston had scored two runs in its last two games, and in the series, Correa was 2-for-14 and Bregman was 1-for-14.

But you can’t hold down the Astros forever, a parade of Atlanta pitchers discovered as the clock passed midnight and the calendar flipped to November.

Said Correa, "We’ve got a clubhouse full of bad dudes in there. And our lineup is very deep."

"They’re not going to quit. They’re not going to roll over,’’ Duvall said. "We’re playing for it all. We’re playing for everything right now. We’re playing for the dreams that we’ve had as a little kid.

"It’s not going to be easy. This time of the year, all throughout the postseason, it’s not going to be easy. You’ve got guys that are willing to run through walls for a win."

The scheduled starters for Game 6 on Tuesday are Max Fried for Atlanta and Luis Garcia for Houston.

Bregman’s RBI double off Tucker Davidson in the second ended the Astros’ rut with runners in scoring position and Maldonado — 4-for-41 in the postseason at that point — followed with a sacrifice fly that pulled them within 4-2.

Correa’s RBI double and Yuli Gurriel’s run-scoring groundout in the third tied it at 4-4.

Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman untied it moments later, connecting for a 460-foot solo homer.

Maldonado’s two-out walk with the bases loaded in the fifth made it 5-5 and Gonzalez’s two-run single gave Houston a 7-5 lead.

RBI singles by Maldonado in the seventh and Correa in the eighth closed out the scoring.

Atlanta had been 7-0 at home in the postseason, and a boisterous crowd inside Truist Park and the packed plaza outside hoped to celebrate the team’s first championship in 26 years.

"It would have been great. You always love to do it here," Snitker said. "But I’ll take it anywhere. I don’t care where we’re at. If we win the World Series, it doesn’t matter where it is. I’d have loved to have done it in front of our fans. Hopefully we can do it the next couple of days.’’

Duvall’s opposite-field grand slam off Framber Valdez in the first inning sent a dozen teammates careening from the dugout, a full-out frenzy of hollering, twirling and dancing.

"We celebrated it,’’ Duvall said. "We got excited, and that’s what you do when you hit home runs — but it’s a long game. That happened in the bottom of the first. It’s a nine-inning game, and they didn’t quit. They kept fighting.

"We weren’t able to get it going again and keep the pressure on, and that’s hats off to their pitchers. They kept us there when they needed to."

Astros righthander Zack Greinke got the first pinch-hit by an American League pitcher in World Series history, lining a single in the fourth. He also got a hit when he started Game 4. The previous hit by a pinch-hitting pitcher in the Series came in 1923 by Jack Bentley of the Giants.