ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves took Game 1 of the World Series in Houston, with a pair of home runs and scattered insurance runs lifting the team to a 6-2 win over the Astros. The game featured a number of highs and lows – with Jorge Soler hitting a historic home run on just the third pitch of the game to get things started, Ozzie Albies stealing a base to get everyone in America a free taco, and the team building a 5-0 lead early.
But it was not all good vibes in Game 1: Starting pitcher Charlie Morton, one of the team’s most important players, was struck by a comeback ground ball and broke his right fibula.
Despite the broken leg, Morton gutted through three more outs before leaving the game in a remarkable show of resiliency. Devastatingly, though, the Braves announced later that the injury will make him miss the remainder of the World Series.
While the loss of Morton is a major setback for the rest of the series, the team will be feeling good about grabbing a 1-0 lead on the road with the chance on Wednesday night to steal a second.
If they can do that, they’d come home to Atlanta on Friday for three straight games, needing to win two of them to be World Series champions.
Game 2 of the series will begin at 8 p.m., with Max Fried on the hill starting for the Braves. Before Tuesday night’s game he spoke of how he was ready to bounce back from a rough Game 5 start in the NLCS.
“This is what you dream about,” he said.