Jose Siri, Michael Brantley fuel Houston’s hot inning

9:11 PM ET

In Game 1 of the 2021 World Series, the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros saw a little bit of everything.

Designated hitter Jorge Soler became the first player to lead off the top of the first inning with a home run. Adam Duvall helped his team stay hot in the third with a two-run shot that extended the Braves lead to 5-0.

The game’s biggest storyline happened in the bottom of the third when Atlanta’s Charlie Morton threw 16 pitches, including a 96 mph fastball and 80 mph curveball, to strike out Jose Altuve, before exiting with a fractured fibula.

Both squads depended on their bullpens early as Morton and Framber Valdez were out of the game by the fourth inning, but the Braves’ early offensive explosion allowed them to come out on top 6-2 in the Fall Classic opener.

José Urquidy will take the mound as the Astros look to bounce back in Game 2 and Braves lefty Max Fried will hope to continue Atlanta’s hot streak.

Houston heats up

Well, that escalated quickly. The Astros scored three runs in the bottom of the second on two ground ball singles (94.4 and 84.2 mph), an infield single (51.5 mph) and another ground ball single (89.1 mph) – not a hard-hit ball in the bunch (a hard-hit ball is classified as 95-plus mph). The Astros also got help from a horrendous defensive play by the Braves that even a Little League team shouldn’t commit. On Martin Maldonado’s base hit to left field – that’s the 89.1 mph one – Braves third baseman Austin Riley set up too deep to cut off the throw home, even though there was no chance to make a play there. With shortstop Dansby Swanson in shallow left field after trying to field the base hit, nobody was covering third base, so the speedy Jose Siri (he beat out that infield hit with an impressive dash to first) raced into third. Left fielder Eddie Rosario threw the ball there and the ball rolled towards the dugout, allowing Siri to sprint home with the third run. Oh, and then Michael Brantley’s two-out ground ball single scored Maldonado for a 5-1 lead.

At least that one was hit at 101.3 mph. Who says small ball is dead?

Evening the score

Jose Urquidy has four strikeouts through two innings for the Astros, but Travis d’Arnaud tagged him for a second-inning home run to tie the game. Urquidy rarely beats himself with walks, but he is an extreme fly ball pitcher and d’Arnaud jumped all over a 3-2 fastball up in the zone – a disappointing result for Urquidy after being ahead 0-2 in the count. Small warning sign moving forward: The Braves have already hit three balls at 100-plus mph (including d’Arnaud’s home run at 104.1). Urquidy is getting some swings and misses, but the Braves are also hitting him hard. You know Dusty Baker wants to get some length from Urquidy, but he also won’t hesitate to bring in Cristian Javier in long relief. –David Schoenfield

Hometown Heroes

Joc Pederson will be rocking his signature pearls for Wednesday night’s contest and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is backing the Braves.

Meanwhile, the Astros are looking for a win at home before the series heads to Atlanta.

Excused absence

Would you rather do “homewrk” or attend the World Series? This young fan had a tough choice to make.

Heat Check

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