The Houston Astros are one win away from the second World Series title in franchise history. The Astros hung on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night (HOU 3, PHI 2), giving Houston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7 will be played at Minute Maid Park this weekend.
In the first inning it appeared Game 5 would be a chaos game with a lot of runs and lots of craziness, but that chaos game never materialized. Game 5 became a quasi-pitchers’ duel with plenty of traffic and squandered opportunities on both sides. The two teams went a combined 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position. Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña drove in two runs, with an RBI single in the first and a solo homer in the fourth. Justin Verlander worked around a flurry of early baserunners to throw five innings and earn his first career World Series win.
Astros center fielder Chas McCormick robbed J.T. Realmuto of extra bases in the ninth inning with a leaping grab as Ryan Pressly nailed down a five-out save.
CBS Sports will have more on this story shortly.
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