Who win game two of the world series

Houston has a serious problem. A night after Gerrit Cole threw an unexpected disaster to lose Game 1, Verlander delivered another underwhelming start for the Astros. He immediately ran into trouble from the jump by allowing a walk, single and then a two-run double in a sign of troubles to come.

He then returned to the mound in the seventh and allowed the go-ahead blast to Suzuki before a walk ended his night. A team loaded with young stars is now two games shy of its first title because of its veterans. After hitting a home run in his World Series debut in Game 1, Zimmerman delivered once again.

Zimmerman hit the diamond in the bottom of the inning and made a marvelous web gem with an outstanding stop to end the inning and save a run. There are thousands of reasons the fan base and city love him, this World Series performance is just adding to that. Over the five-year run where they have reached the World Series three times, the Astros have distinguished themselves by consistently finding and nurturing hitters who excel at avoiding strikeouts.

And yes, run an infamous sign-stealing scheme that perhaps aided in that pursuit in parts of and As whiffs proliferated around the league, it amounted to a Moneyball-esque zag, one that has turned out to be powerfully prescient, not nostalgic. This season, Astros hitters struck out less often than anyone. At In the playoffs, the Astros have 21 fewer strikeouts than the Braves despite taking more plate appearances.

The gap between their mark and the second-place Toronto Blue Jays was larger than the gap from second to 26th. That wide-ranging ability to turn back the clock on strikeout-minded pitchers has fueled a core lineup that will go down as one of the best in baseball history — scandal or not.

Analytics — that invisible force that A-Rod and others tend to invoke as an ominous bogeyman — is a broad-brush way of referring to the effects of the sabermetric movement.

His start would amount to a 1. He really did pitch well, though. After that second inning, he rattled off three perfect frames before hitting a jam and leaving in the sixth. Now, the continued pursuit of understanding — analytics! Our grasp on how well pitchers did their jobs has steadily improved, and Statcast data allows us to incorporate the balls that hitters put in play.

The Braves swiftly tied it on a solo home run from catcher Travis d'Arnaud in the top of the second, but in the home half the Astros took charge for good.

Thanks in large measure to five singles off Atlanta ace Max Fried and some speed on the bases, the Astros were able to plate four runs in the inning. In the seventh, Jose Altuve added some insurance with a solo home run. It was the 22nd postseason home run of his career. He also doubled in Game 2. Elsewhere in the lineup, Michael Brantley notched a multi-hit game in the postseason for the 18th time in his career. On the pitching side, Houston starter Jose Urquidy gave them five innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts and no walks.

After a travel day on Thursday, the series shifts to Truist Park outside Atlanta for Games 3, 4, and 5. With the series knotted up after two, it's in essence now a best-of-five series with the Braves' holding home-field advantage the rest of the way.

The stakes will indeed be high on Friday night for Game 3, as teams up in a best-of-seven postseason series in MLB have gone on to win that series more than 70 percent of the time. After Game 1, a quick start was imperative for the Astros in Game 2, and they indeed struck early.

Houston manufactured a first-inning run on a Jose Altuve double, a Michael Brantley fly out, and an Alex Bregman sacrifice fly. Altuve and Bregman have struggled most of the postseason , so those two contributing early in Game 2 was a welcome sight for the 'Stros.

It should be noted there has now been a first-inning run scored in seven consecutive World Series games, tying the longest such streak in history. There was also a first inning run scored in seven straight World Series games from The last World Series game with a scoreless first inning was Game 1 last year. The Astros really got to Braves lefty Max Fried in the second inning.

Four of the first five and five of the first seven batters they sent to the plate recorded singles, and to be fair to Fried, they were well-placed singles more than well-struck. The exit velocities: Only the fifth single of the inning was really squared up. Siri beat out an infield single with runners on the corners to give the Astros a lead, then Maldonado pulled a ground ball through the left side to score two runs.

Siri scored all the way from first base on Eddie Rosario's wild throw. Astros manager Dusty Baker said he put Siri in the Game 2 lineup because he likes his energy and the team looked flat in Game 1, and Siri's energy was evident on his infield single. As for Maldonado, he's in the lineup for elite glove and arm behind the plate, not his bat. He hit. Anything Maldonado gives the Astros offensively is a bonus, and his third hit of the postseason came at an opportune time.

It helped Houston build an early lead. To Fried's credit, he settled down after the second inning and retired 10 consecutive batters at one point, including five via strikeout. Overall, it has been a difficult postseason for Altuve. Altuve seemed to snap out of his funk in Game 2 on Wednesday, opening the first inning with a double and then hitting a home run in the seventh. Altuve had two hits in Game 2 after recording only three hits in his previous seven games.

Also, the home run was the 22nd of his postseason career, tied for second most in history. Here is the postseason home run leaderboard:. Manny Ramirez: 29 homers in plate appearances T2. Bernie Williams: 22 homers in plate appearances T2.