PHILADELPHIA — In the 32 days since he last had a hit, Trey Mancini has had a lot of time to visualize how he might contribute to his team’s World Series run. Maybe he would start at designated hitter and sting a line drive into the gap. Maybe he would enter as a pinch hitter and loft a ball over the wall. Maybe he would beat out an infield single. Anything, really, to feel like he had made an impact on an Astros team that traded for him expecting one.
Instead, as he stood beaming in the Houston clubhouse after a 3–2 win in Game 5 of the World Series to deliver the Astros within one victory of a championship, he listened to his teammates laud him for a glove he had not even planned to don, a glove that preserved a lead, ended an inning and snuffed out the Phillies’ best chance at a rally.
“That was an unbelievable play,” said third baseman Alex Bregman as he named Mancini the player of the game amid raucous cheering. “To come in off the bench and do it—it changed the game.”
