Atlanta pitcher Charlie Morton left Recreation 1 of the World Sequence towards the Houston Astros with an harm that was later identified as a fractured fibula.
Carmen Mandato/Getty Pictures
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Carmen Mandato/Getty Pictures
Atlanta pitcher Charlie Morton left Recreation 1 of the World Sequence towards the Houston Astros with an harm that was later identified as a fractured fibula.
Carmen Mandato/Getty Pictures
A damaged leg, a brand new file and a bat man: these are three of the attention-grabbing tales that emerged from the Atlanta Braves’ 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros within the first sport of the World Sequence.
The Braves now lead the collection 1-0 after seizing the street win. Houston will attempt to neglect this sport, which they trailed from the beginning. For the Braves, it was their first win in a World Sequence sport since 1996. Recreation 2 of the best-of-seven collection will begin shortly after 8 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Listed here are three issues to find out about Recreation 1:
Charlie Morton pitched on a damaged leg, and nonetheless acquired outs
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Braves ace Charlie Morton set a brand new customary for toughness, as he continued to pitch effectively after taking a hard-hit ball off his proper shin within the Astros’ first at-bat within the second inning.
The ball got here off Yuli Gurriel’s bat at 102.4 mph, according to MLB. X-rays taken at Minute Maid Park later revealed Morton had suffered a fracture to the fibula on his proper leg — the leg the right-hander makes use of to push off the mound. Morton was pulled from the sport — however not earlier than he recorded three extra outs, together with a strikeout on a pointy curveball to the Astros’ harmful leadoff man, José Altuve, within the third inning.
Morton bent over in ache after that final pitch, utilizing his palms to brace himself towards the pitcher’s mound. He then motioned to the Braves’ dugout earlier than strolling gingerly off the sector.
After the sport, when gamers stopped by his locker to commiserate over his exit, Morton repeatedly replied, “I am sorry,” according to ESPN. It was a tragic finish to the World Sequence for Morton, who was on the mound when Houston received the 2017 championship.
There was a ‘bat man’ within the dugout
Bat girls and boys are a typical sight at big-league parks, and plenty of of them are children who scamper round to gather gamers’ bats and perform different duties. But TV viewers’ interest was piqued when the FOX broadcast confirmed a reasonably uncommon bat boy within the Braves’ dugout.
The bat boy not solely a full-grown man, however a reasonably muscled one, with lengthy hair and a full beard. Some even stated he resembled Jason Momoa.
On Twitter, many commenters remarked on his dimension, notably because the bat boy was seated subsequent to Adam Duvall, who hit a homerun within the sport.
“Is it simply me or does the Braves bat boy seem like he ought to be taking part in for the Brewers?” one viewer requested on Twitter.
We must always observe that MLB groups do not usually carry their very own bat boys on street journeys. As an alternative, the house group provides bat boys for each dugouts — the guests’ bat boy or woman merely will get a loaner uniform for every sport. However some groups do journey with their very own bat boys within the postseason.
Up to now, the Astros have been recognized to make use of older bat boys. In 2016, one other “bat man” (additionally with a beard) even gave signs to a Houston batter on the plate.
Recreation 1’s leadoff house run set a file
Atlanta’s Jorge Soler hit a homerun within the prime of the primary inning, changing into the primary participant in main league historical past to hit a homer within the very first at-bat of a World Sequence sport.
Soler crushed the third pitch from Houston’s Framber Valdez over the left-field wall, setting the tone for his group as he returned to the beginning lineup. He performed solely sparingly after happening the injured checklist within the division collection.
“To be sincere, I did not know that was a factor till I used to be advised a bit in a while within the sport,” Soler stated, according to MLB. “For me, I wasn’t enthusiastic about something like that.”
Different gamers have homered of their group’s first journey to the plate within the World Sequence, MLB says — however all of these hits got here within the backside of the primary, not the highest.
