Devotees of the game of baseball like to say that momentum is only as good as the next day’s pitcher. But in game 5 of the 2021 World Series, momentum seemed to switch with every half-inning, at least in the first part of the game. The Houston Astros, trailing the Atlanta Braves in this Fall Classic three games to one, were down early on a first inning grand slam and with the crowd in a frenzy, managed to keep their composure and get the game tied by the third .

After a Freddie Freeman homer in the bottom of the third swung the tide once more giving the Braves the lead again, the Astros scored the last five runs in the contest to win game five going away, 9-5.

The Classic now shifts to Houston for a game six, with the Braves still in a commanding position with a 3-2 Series lead.

Dusty Baker was not about to stand pat in this elimination game. He shuffled the Astros line-up considerably moving Carlos Correa to the three hole, Yuli Gurriel to the five spot, and dropping the slumping Alex Bregman to the seventh position. His changes worked perfectly as the Astros seemed more patient (six walks in the game with three scoring) and selective, scoring nine runs (without the benefit of a home run) on 12 hits.

Major contributions from the Houston bench also contributed to the victory.

Both teams utilized the opener in this game. Tucker Davidson ‘started’ for Atlanta and he lasted  two innings allowing two earned runs. The Braves used five pitchers in the game. The Astros went to Framber Valdez to begin things and he lasted 2 2/3 innings giving up five runs. Houston used six pitchers.

The Braves wasted little time scoring in this one, rousing the Truist Field crowd to dizzying heights in the very first inning. With the bases loaded and two out, Adam Duvall homered to right causing the crowd to, as Joe Buck mentioned on the broadcast,  “shake” the building. It was only the third, first inning grand slam in World Series history and the first since 1960 when Bobby Richardson did the trick for the Yankees.

The 4-0 score did not last long.

In the top of the second, Bregman, who was dropped in the line-up, doubled in a run to cut the lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Martin Maldonado, the unsung hero of this game, got the first of his three RBIs on a sacrifice fly to halve the lead.

Maldonado had a game on Sunday becoming the only player in World Series history to earn an RBI via a walk, a hit and a sacrifice fly in the same game. He wouldn’t be the only bench player to contribute to the Astros on this evening.

Houston tied the game in the third. Carlos Correa doubled in the third Astros’ run followed by an RBI groundout by Yuli Gurriel. The momentum in this game was clearly Houston’s as the game was even at 4-4.

That momentum flipped quickly.

Reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman stroked a long homer to center to give the Braves their final lead of the game at 5-4. The home run was measured at 460 feet, the longest four-bagger of the post-season and the longest in Freeman’s career.

The Astros battled back with three in the fifth to give them their first lead of the game. Maldonado worked out an RBI walk to tie the game at five. Then, Marwin Gonzalez, who hadn’t had a hit since October 3, singled in two to up the lead to 7-5.  Single runs in the seventh and eighth made the score 9-5. One of the runs was driven in by Correa, making him the second leading shortstop all time in World Series RBIs with 19. He trails only Pee Wee Reese who had 26.

Gonzalez’s hit was his first of the playoffs and marked perhaps the most important at-bat of the game. Off of Braves’ pitcher A.J. Minter, and on a two strike count, the journeyman Gonzalez laced a single to score two.

The final score was 9-5 with the Astros dominating the the latter part of the game and forcing a game 6 in Texas. The pitchers for the crucial contest are unknown although Baker told Fox’s Jon Heyman that Luis Garcia may start on short rest on Tuesday. Atlanta’s starter is still not yet a certainty as well.

Game six, of what is quickly becoming a classic series, will be on Tuesday starting just after 8 and can be seen on Fox.