ATLANTA -- The early head-turning offensive production had the makings of a World Series-clinching performance in front of a roaring home crowd. Instead, a massive grand slam from Adam Duvall and a go-ahead blast from Freddie Freeman were not enough for the Braves to take care of business in Game 5 on Sunday at Truist Park.

Following a 9-5 loss, Atlanta heads back to Houston for Game 6 on Tuesday with a 3-2 Series lead.

¡°I'd rather score that run in the seventh inning when you don't have so much time to cover,¡± Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ¡°We knew we had a long, long way to go in that game and anything could happen. It would have been great if we could have kept adding on. We just weren't able to do that.¡±

Duvall¡¯s first-inning slam earned the Braves a 4-0 lead, six batters in. The ninth first-inning grand slam in postseason history came 29 years after Atlanta¡¯s only other World Series slam, a Lonnie Smith homer off then-Blue Jay Jack Morris in Game 5 of the 1992 Fall Classic.

The fifth grand slam of this postseason matches the MLB record set in 1998, when the Braves hit three of those. Four of this year¡¯s grand slams have come off Houston pitching. The advantage had been long-lasting: Entering Sunday, teams were 18-2 in the World Series when connecting on a grand slam. The only other two losses came from the 1988 A¡¯s (Jose Canseco) and ¡¯65 Yankees (Yogi Berra).

¡°I always say, if it's going to happen, let it happen early,¡± Astros manager Dusty Baker said. ¡°You don't want it to happen in the middle of the game or toward the end of the game.¡±

Though Astros starter Framber Valdez has a history of following rough starts with better ones against the same opponent this year, including against Boston in Games 1 and 5 of the American League Championship Series, the Braves were ready to take advantage after Jorge Soler¡¯s leadoff single past third baseman Alex Bregman put Atlanta¡¯s offense in motion.

Valdez nearly ended the threat early, but after Freeman flied out, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve couldn¡¯t turn a double play quickly enough to retire the speedy Ozzie Albies at first. From there, Valdez searched in vain for a third out.

Austin Riley¡¯s ground-ball single to left sent Albies racing to third. Left fielder Yordan Alvarez, normally Houston¡¯s designated hitter, threw to third, allowing Riley to take second. Eddie Rosario¡¯s five-pitch walk loaded the bases for Duvall, who jumped on Valdez¡¯s first-pitch 95.4 mph sinker and sent it deep to right.

Duvall joined Moose Skowron as the only players to hit a grand slam in a potential World Series clincher. Skowron homered off Roger Craig in Game 7 in 1956, providing the final runs in the Yankees¡¯ 9-0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

¡°We celebrated it, we got excited and that's what you do when you hit home runs, but it's a long game,¡± Duvall said. ¡°That happened in the bottom of the first. It's a nine-inning game, and they didn't quit.¡±

The early lead quickly was erased by the Astros, who evened the score, 4-4, by the third inning. Reigning National League MVP Freeman did his best to play the role of early-game hero when he stepped to the plate against Valdez. He demolished a 94.5 mph sinker a Statcast-projected 460 feet to give the Braves a one-run edge.

The rocket to right-center field tied Freeman¡¯s personal mark for longest postseason home run (the other came in Game 1 of the 2019 NL Division Series) and ranks fourth among all playoff blasts since Statcast began tracking in 2015. Five 460-plus-foot homers belted in the playoffs were during that span; Freeman is the only player to hit two of them.

Within Braves history, Freeman¡¯s sixth go-ahead homer in the playoffs broke a tie with Chipper Jones to set a new franchise mark. It also was the first time a club¡¯s longest-tenured player went yard in a potential World Series-clinching game since Barry Bonds in Game 6 of the 2002 Fall Classic between the Giants and Angels.

¡°They kept fighting,¡± Duvall said. ¡°We weren't able to get it going again and keep the pressure on, and that's hats off to their pitchers. They kept us there when they needed to.¡±