By Marvin A Azrak During this time of year, Jose Siri would be gearing up to play Dominican winter ball. Yet here he was, launching himself like an “Astronaut” into home plate, before mightily flexing to all of “H-Town” that the rookie had arrived in the 2021 Fall Classic. The speed was on full display, as the Astros rocked Max Fried for a robust four-run second inning, while Jose Urquidy tamed the Braves bats over five innings of the two-run ball before Jose Altuve went deep late to seal a “Must-win” 7-2 game two victory for the Houston Astros; evening this World Series at a game apiece as we shift to Atlanta. After a disappointing opener, the Astros came out with an aggressive approach against Braves starter Max Fried, striking first with an Altuve double, leading to an Alex Bregman sac fly that gave Houston a 1-0 lead. But Travis Darnu´d would promptly respond, by knocking one into the Crawford-Boxes silencing the Houston faithful. However, the resilience of the American League representatives, and willingness to defy the odds paid dividends in the bottom half of the frame, as singles against the shift by Kyle Tucker, Yuli Gurriel, and Siri put the Astros back ahead. Insurance runs would arrive on a Martin Maldanao RBI single, which would bring home a second run on the play when Eddie Rosario tried to nab Jose Siri at third base, but nobody was covering the bag allowing Siri to dash home, igniting the Minute-Maid Park companions.
A couple of batters later, Micheal Brantley completed the frame by lining a single up the middle, giving Houston a commanding 5-1 lead, essentially announcing to the world they can “chop” with the Braves too.
Atlanta would receive some life when Freddie Freeman singled home a tally in the fifth, but Jose Urquidy and the core four of the Astros bullpen in Cristian Javier, Phil Maton, Ryan Pressly, and Kendall Gravemen slammed the door on their hopes of taking a 2-0 lead the rest of the contest.
We didn’t leave Houston without some controversy though, as, on a fielder’s choice which scored Yordan Alvarez in the sixth, Ozzie Albies struggled with the transfer for a potential double play, yet it was ruled that the ball came out before the transfer which was also the verdict after the umpires phoned the replay center.
In the seventh, Jose Altuve “Juiced” one out of the yard in potentially the final home game of the season giving the Juice Box one last chance to exalt their vocal cords and the train one last lap around the tracks before the baseball world “Chops on” to Braves county for the next three games over the weekend.
This Astros win also came with the roof open, which hadn’t happened in a home playoff game since the 2005 World Series.
GAME TWO MVP: Jose Siri
WORLD SERIES MVP(So far): Micheal Brantley(5 for 9, 1 RBI)
UP NEXT:
Game three of the 2021 World Series will take place on Friday night when it shifts to Truist Park for the first World Series game in the Braves new ballpark. Yimi Garcia will take the hill for Houston opposite Ian Andreson of Atlanta.
Game time is perusal at 8:09 PM ET.
