HE THOUGHT HE WAS LEAVING: Yulieski Gurriel paid dearly to stay and see his hit

By Gian Franco Gil / @ Gian_Gil98

Yulieski Gurriel started the World Series showing all his might with the tree. The native of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, started the first match of the grand final as a first baseman and seventh man in the batch. Meanwhile, “La Piña” was about to disappear the ball at the conclusion of the eighth episode.

The ball traveled up to 405 feet from left field, and with a few inches higher it would have easily surpassed the fences of “Minute Maid Park.” Gurriel found a 97.3 mph fastball, which hit hard and gave him a 107 mph exit velocity.

Since the ball made contact with the wood, the Cuban stopped to observe the trajectory of the seams. His initial calculations indicated that the spherical was carrying enough speed and height to be able to complete the return to the frame. Fractions of seconds later he discovered that it would not be so and reached for the second cushion.

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“Doña Blanca” crashed into the wall, the hit was good, but Eddie Rosario was much better, who received the ball after it bounced, and quickly sent it to middle to catch Yuli and finish with that chapter, in the that the Astros had reduced the score to 6 × 2.

Gurriel’s career, in addition to being late, was unnecessary as it did not even represent the potential draw.

Gurriel got a pair of undisputed in four official visits to the batting box and now has 17 in the World Series. In the same game, the Astros first baseman hit a strong line down the center of the field that found the right foot of starter Charlie Morton, who had to come out of the game with a fibula fracture and will miss the remainder of the postseason.

Yulieski is contesting the fifth consecutive major league postseason. In them he accumulates 67 games as a defender of the first pad, a figure that makes him the Astros player with the most experience defending that position in the MLB playoffs.