On the brink of elimination, the Astros lived to see another day, surviving an early Atlanta onslaught in Sunday’s Game 5 win, returning the series to Houston, where a world champion will be crowned later this week. After snoozing through Games 3 and 4 (two combined runs), Houston’s dormant offense roared to life with 12 hits Sunday night, none bigger than Marwin Gonzalez’s single in the fifth inning, capping a pivotal two-out rally that would ultimately put the Astros ahead for good.
Following a bases-loaded walk to Martin Maldonado, Gonzalez found the outfield grass with a base hit off left-hander A.J. Minter, plating Alex Bregman and American League batting champ Yuli Gurriel to break a five-all tie. Considering the stakes, Gonzalez’s two-run single in his only at-bat may have been the biggest hit of this year’s World Series, stealing the momentum back from Atlanta after jumping out to an early 4-0 lead.
Gonzalez has not made a particularly big impact this postseason (one hit in three at-bats). In fact, he probably wouldn’t have been playing if the Astros had a DH at their disposal (depending on how CBA negotiations shake out this offseason, Kendall Graveman may go down as the final pitcher to hit in a National League game). But when it mattered most, Gonzalez gave the Astros the lift they so desperately needed, propelling them to victory on MLB’s biggest stage.
Predictably, Red Sox fans had plenty to say about Gonzalez’s clutch hit, wondering where these heroics were during his short-lived stint with Boston earlier this year.
The veteran utility man joined Boston as a free agent last winter but didn’t pan out, submitting a miserable .202/.281/.285 batting line with two homers, 20 RBI and 70 strikeouts in 242 at-bats. The Red Sox eventually designated Gonzalez for assignment, allowing him to latch on with the Astros, who he won a World Series with (albeit under tainted circumstances) in 2017.
Seeing Gonzalez come through in a big spot Sunday night had to be frustrating for Red Sox supporters, though even with the benefit of hindsight, Chaim Bloom shouldn’t regret cutting a player who A) wasn’t performing and B) at his best, would have been a worse version of fan favorite Kiké Hernandez.
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