Houston Astros vs Atlanta Braves: A break from offensive baseball

The sixth game of the World Series takes place tomorrow morning in the USA. Houston, who were on the brink, won their fifth meeting and now go home. And Atlanta still have a good chance of clinching their first championship since 1995, leading 3-2 in the series.

The fifth game was incredibly entertaining, offensive, and strong-willed. Houston were able to overturn a poor start to the match and find their crazy offense. After that, it was one team on the field. But the situation in the series does not give the Texans the right to rest on their laurels. They are losing in the series. Before the fifth meeting, Atlanta needed only one win in three games to clinch the title. Now they need to win one of two.

Here’s a look at what they have in store for the sixth meeting in Houston.

The Astros are one of the strongest offensive teams in the MLB. That’s for sure. They may be the strongest offensive team of our time at all. They’re capable of playing any offensive baseball. You want a small ball, there you go. Power hitting? Even better.

After the first inning in game number five of the World Series, Houston fell to 0-4, and Atlanta were already preparing for a championship parade. Well, no, the Astros’ star batters decided and carried Atlanta ahead.

Putting the first inning out of the picture (Valdes singled there again), Houston won the game 9-1! Altuve was getting to the bases, Brentley was supporting, Correa was scoring, Tucker and Gurriel were as good as ever, Bregman finally woke up.

But Martin Maldonado was particularly good. The Houston catcher produced a terrific game offensively, racking up 3 RBIs. And in one of the key moments of the game, right after Freeman’s home run, he out-hit his opponent with a bow. After that, the Astros were already unstoppable. And yet, Maldonado is considered a defensive player first and foremost. Who would say that now, though?

Charlie Morton’s injury put Atlanta in a difficult position. Before games four and five, the Braves had to decide how to use the pitching rotation. On the one hand, the team’s most reliable players are the three relievers: Minter, Matzek, Smith. On the other hand, they need rest. They’re fully engaged in the playoffs. And manager Brian Snitker understands that. He put Minter on the field in game five and got off to a great start, but he missed a big one. Snitker didn’t let anyone else out of the trio. He was saving them for the sixth meeting. He also saved Luke Jackson, who was the team’s best reliever in the regular season.

Add to that an extra day of rest due to the team's move to Houston, and you get a perfect setup for Atlanta’s star reliever. They need to recover. This means Houston’s offense won’t feel so at ease anymore.

And, of course, for the first time in two games, Atlanta will have a classic starting pitcher on the mound.

The game at number six on the mound will feature a duel between two starting pitchers, Max Fried representing Atlanta and Luis Garcia representing the Astros. Both are in great shape. Both are sufficiently rested. Both are their teams’ hope of winning. They also have in common that they are very young (by the standards of MLB starting pitchers), yet right now are almost the premier pitchers in baseball. No Scherzer and Ohtani are in the final, and these two are here. And one of them will be champions as early as this week.

Garcia, 24, had a great regular season. The Venezuelan has 11 wins at 3.48 per game and 167 strikeouts. In the postseason, things seem to be worse. Statistically, it is. The conceding rate has doubled. But! In the deciding game of the American League Championship Series, Garcia was on the mound and played great, taking his team to the World Series.

Fried’s not much older than Garcia. He’s 27 years old. In the regular season, Max shot away with the stats: 14 wins, 3.04 slugging percentage. In the postseason, things aren’t nearly as impressive either. But the Braves have faith in Fried, who put up a 7-match winning streak just before the playoffs started.

The Braves lead the World Series 3-2.

In the fifth meeting, Houston were 9-5 stronger, inflicting Atlanta’s first home defeat in this postseason.

The series moved to Houston. That’s where the sixth game will be played. And the seventh, of course, assuming it’s needed.

I was confident in the Astros’ victory in the previous meeting. But here, everything is more complicated.

It seems that after this game, there are as many arguments in favour of Atlanta’s championship as there are for the seventh game in the series.

Atlanta have a return to starting pitchers and a rested all-around reliever. Houston have resurrected offense and home walls.

All in all, it is a very difficult game to predict. Yeah, and I wouldn’t bet on a winner.

After the attacking frenzy in the fifth game, there will very likely be a pause in the offense. Yes, that’s also with some serious pitching assets. Nine runs is a serious number that teams may not cross for two in this particular game. Let’s assume that happens. Who will win? Either way - a decent one. There are simply no others here.