The scoring started awfully quickly. On the third pitch he saw, Jorge Soler, Atlanta’s leadoff batter, unloaded on a 93-mile-per-hour sinker, sending it 382 feet and over the high wall in left field for an immediate 1-0 lead. Three batters later, Austin Riley doubled home a second run.
Soler’s blast marked the first time a World Series began with a home run by the first batter.
It was a wild start for Houston’s Framber Valdez, who retired only one of the first four batters — and that out almost wasn’t one with Freddie Freeman barreling down the line as Jose Altuve made a slick play to retire him on a groundout.
After Riley’s double, Valdez settled down. He struck out Eddie Rosario for the second out and then got out of the inning when Adam Duvall flew out to right.
