Huston, Philadelphia win and lose 1 game each in World Series

The Huston Astros, which lost to the Philadelphia Phillis after failing to keep its 5-10 lead in the first game of the Major League Baseball’s World Series, managed to maintain its 5-0 lead in the second match on Saturday to secure its 5-2 victory.

Huston was deeply shocked at its loss in the first game. It was the first time in 20 years that a team leading a game by five runs ended up losing the game in the World Series since San Francois lost to Los Angeles in the sixth game in the 2002 series. Moreover, San Francois lost that game by the same score (5-6), and even the coach was the same: Dusty Baker, the incumbent Houston manager.

Houston had two runs from their first offense in the first inning after all first three batters had two-base hits off Philadelphia’s starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (32). Wheeler, who had no runs during 11 and one-third of innings in the postseason, disgracefully became the first pitcher to fail to strike out even a single hitter and instead allow a ‘triple double’ in the World Series. Then Huston scored three runs in a single inning due to the Philadelphia shortstop’s error, and Alex Bregman (28) added a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure a 5-0 lead just like the previous day.

Manager Baker regained confidence in his team’s starting pitcher again on Sunday. The team’s ace pitcher Justin Verlander (39) surrendered after giving five runs in the fourth and fifth innings, even after his team had scored five runs through the third inning in the first game. Still, Framber Valdez (29) only gave four hits and no hit in the face of Phillis’ power hitters during six and one-third of innings on Sunday to pave the way for his team’s victory. “Our team forgets bad things fast. We should not be mindful today of what happened yesterday,” Baker said after the game. The two teams, which now have one win and one loss each, will move to Philadelphia and play the third to fifth games of the World Series from Monday.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com