Jorge Soler knows how to make an impact right from the start.
In his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2014, he hit a home run in his first at-bat.
And on Tuesday, Soler smashed the third pitch of the 2021 World Series beyond the left-field wall, becoming the first player to hit a home run in the very first plate appearance of the season finale.
Four players previously have hit home runs in their team’s first appearances at the plate in the World Series – most recently, Chris Taylor for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 – but those have all come at the bottom of the first inning.
The feat made the Cuban – who was making his first appearance since returning from the Covid-19 injured list – “and my family both very happy,” he said during a press conference afterwards.
“To be honest, I didn’t know that was a thing until I was told a little later on in the game,” Soler said. “For me, I wasn’t thinking about anything like that.”
The historic moment came in the Braves’ 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the Fall Classic.
Soler’s opening homer was followed shortly by another from the 29-year-old before Adam Duvall’s two-run home run in the third inning gave them a 5-0 lead at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
It took until the fourth inning for the home side to get on the board, with Chas McCormick the man to break the Astros’ duck.
Yordan Alvarez tripled and Carlos Correa knocked him in to make the score 6-2 in the eighth inning, but the Astros were unable to mount the comeback.
Braves manager Brian Snitker was making his first appearance in the World Series on Tuesday, and it couldn’t have gone much better on his debut.
“I wondered before we got here what I’d feel like,” he said in a post-game press conference. “When the game started, I felt like it was a baseball game, and you kind of get so tunneled into what you’re doing that you forget where you’re at. It’s just another baseball game, a really loud baseball game.
“Then so much happened really quick that I didn’t have a chance to do anything other than that. But it was nice. I’m glad, obviously, we won the game.”
However, despite the convincing victory, it came at a price for the Braves after starting pitcher Charlie Morton fractured a bone in his leg and will miss the remainder of the World Series.
He left the game in the bottom of the third after throwing 44 pitches. After Morton struck out Astros leadoff hitter Jose Altuve, he almost fell to the ground and came up with a limp.
The Braves said he underwent an X-ray that revealed a right fibula fracture. “He will miss the remainder of the World Series and is expected to be ready for Spring Training in 2022,” the team tweeted.
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According to MLB.com, the damage was done in the second inning when Morton was hit in the right calf by a 102.4 mph batted ball from Yuli Gurriel, meaning he threw 16 pitches on a broken leg.
Game 2 takes place on Wednesday evening in Houston.
Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
