The Cycle, Issue 106: World Series Off Day #1
Recapping the mirror-image Games 1 and 2 of the World Series and previewing the next three games in Atlanta and how the Braves and Astros might deploy their pitchers in Games 4 and 5
In this issue of The Cycle . . .
As the Astros and Braves travel to Atlanta for the middle three games of the 2021 World Series, I recap the first two and preview the three that will be played in Georgia this weekend.
2021 World Series
Astros 1, Braves 1
After two games, the 2021 World Series is a dead heat. Not only did the Braves and Astros split the first two games in Houston, those two games were near mirror images of one another. Put simply, the Braves scored five early runs in Game 1 and won 6–2, while the Astros scored five early runs in Game 2 and won 7–2. Heading to Atlanta, the Astros have just one more run than the Braves (9–8), the Braves have just two more hits than the Astros (19–17), and both teams have drawn exactly five walks.
The most significant event of the first two games was the fractured fibula Charlie Morton suffered in the second inning of Game 1. Leading off the bottom of that inning, Yuli Gurriel hit a comebacker that ricocheted high off Morton’s right ankle directly to Freddie Freeman at first for the out. At the time, no one seemed to think twice about it. The Braves’ trainer didn’t even go out to check on Morton, who will turn 38 in early November. Morton made quick work of the next two hitters, walked off the field without any apparent difficulty, then went back out the next inning. Morton struck out Jose Altuve looking to start the third, but came up lame on his follow-through from that pitch. That’s when the trainer came out and Morton came out of the game.
An x-ray taken during the game showed the fracture, which ends Morton’s season. The Braves replaced him on the roster with lefty starter Tucker Davidson prior to Game 2. I’ll have more about how that will impact the Braves’ pitching plans when I preview Games 4 and 5 below. The good news for the Braves is that they did bank the win in Morton’s one start, even if Morton didn’t have all that much to do with it. That win mitigated the degree to which the injury exacerbated Atlanta’s underdog status in this Series.
Game 1: Braves 6, Astros 2
To my eye, the best part of this World Series thus far remains the very first at-bat, in which Braves designated hitter Jorge Soler became the first player ever to hit a home run in the first at-bat of a World Series, depositing the third pitch from Astros lefty Framber Valdez in the Crawford Boxes beyond Minute Maid Park’s left field.