World Series: Did You Know?

Adam Duvall's grand slam in game five of 2021 was unique. It was the first by a player in the first inning since 1960. Unlike Bobby Richardson's 61 years earlier, the big blow did not hold up.

Duvall's Atlanta Braves were looking to close it out at home against Houston. They'd won games three and four at Truist Park and were looking for the knockout blow in the fifth contest.

The game got off on the right foot for the home team. The home of the Braves, would appear to be the land of the free ride to the World Championship. In the top of the first, Atlanta starter Tucker Davidson needed just fifteen pitches to get the side in order in the top of the first. The Braves then grabbed some very big lumber when they hit for the first time.

It all got started when Jorge Soler stepped in as the very first batter Astros' starter Framber Valdez faced. He singled. Freddie Freeman flied out. Ozzie Albies forced Soler at second. So Valdez appeared to have things under control. However, Austin Riley singled to keep the inning alive. Eddie Rosario walked to load them up. Adam Duvall hit Valdez's very first pitch to right for a home run. The grand slammer put the home team up by four.

Now, Houston could  have been demoralized. But, the team had won the World Series in 2017, and nearly in 2019. So they were no stranger to the World Series, especially on odd-numbered years. They got two runs back in the second, and another two in the third. The effects of the grand slam had worn off quickly. The 4-4 tie was broken when Atlanta hit in their half of the third, however. Freddie Freeman hit a four-bagger of his own. There were two problems with it, from the Braves' point of view. First of all, no one was on base, so it was only 5-4. Secondly, that proved to be the last time Atlanta touched home in the contest.

Martín Maldonado's bases-loaded walk tied the game in the top of the fifth. And the Astros grabbed their first lead when Marwin Gonzalez stroked a clutch, pinch hit, two-run single. The Houston bullpen picked up the slack from there, and Atlanta managed just four hits in the last six and two-thirds innings of the ballgame. 

Maldonado (Not related to outfielder Candy from the 1980s and 90s) added a run-scoring single in the seventh, and it was 8-5. Houston was working 9-5 in the ballgame when Carlos Correa knocked in still another run in the top of the eighth. The Astros had clearly used the Duvall grand slam as a wake-up call.

Houston went on to win the game, 9-5, but it was there last gasp. Max Fried, Tyler Matzek, and Will Smith combined on a 7-0 shutout in game six, which was at Minute Maid Park.

Still, for the Astros, it was their third World Series appearance in the last five years (They won in 2017, and came within a game of winning two seasons later). The team continued on getting to the summit, and eventually won again in 2022 (After winning 106 regular seasons contests), overcoming the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. And the experience of the '21 Fall Classic was big for reliever Phil Maton, who'd struggled throughout the regular season. Phil came back in 2022, dropping his earned run average nearly 1.00. Through fifteen appearances in 2023, Maton's ERA is 1.00.

Getting back to the grand slam in the first inning, the previous player to do that was Bobby Richardson, way back in 1960. Bobby smoked a Clem Labine offering in the bottom of the first in a game in which his New York Yankees were playing at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. New York went on to win the game three encounter, 10-0. Richardson's six runs driven in that afternoon are a still-standing single-game World Series record.




References

Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. 12 May, 2023.

2021 World Series. Fox Broadcasting Company, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/. Accessed 12 May, 2023. 

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 12 May, 2023.

YouTube, Google, https://www.youtube.com/. 12 May, 2023.