Kershaw Grinds for Second Win of Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers regained control of the World Series on Sunday night, following a strong effort by Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers’ longtime ace was given a comfortable 3-0 cushion after the lineup tagged Tampa Bay’s starter, the 6-feet and 8-inch tall Tyler Glasnow, once again.
In a battle of juxtaposition, leadoff hitter Mookie Betts, standing at 5-feet and 9-inches, forced Glasnow to unload seven fiery fastballs and a sharp curveball in an at-bat that immediately set the tone for the night ahead. The final pitch to Betts was a 99-mph 4-seamer that caught entirely too much of the plate, which was ripped to left field for a standup double. Two pitches later, Betts crossed home plate for the first run of the game on an RBI single by the red-hot Corey Seager. Control issues started to set in for Tyler Glasnow, leading to two wild pitches and a walk before NLCS hero Cody Bellinger stepped into the batter’s box. Bellinger continued the Dodgers’ trend of knocking in runs with 2-outs and also in 2-strike counts by smacking a ground ball into the shift and into the glove of a diving Brandon Lowe, who did not have a chance at nabbing the speedy Dodgers’ centerfielder. The Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead prior to Kershaw even toeing the rubber.
In the bottom half of the inning, the seasoned lefthander took the mound for his thirtieth career Postseason start. Yandy Diaz laced a hard groundball single to lead things off for Tampa Bay, just as he had done in the same first-inning matchup in Game 1. In stepped Randy Arozarena one night after setting the MLB record for home runs in a single Postseason. After lining a slider just foul off the left field wall, Arozarena swung at a high fastball and grounded it to Seager at shortstop. The Dodgers’ infield was able to quickly turn the double play and put the pressure back on the Rays.
Joc Pederson led off the second inning for the Dodgers and immediately fell behind in the count 0-2. After taking an outside curveball to make the count 1-2, he saw the high fastball he was looking for and pummeled it into the centerfield seats to give Kershaw the aforementioned 3-0 lead.
Tampa Bay’s lineup notched its first run immediate upon facing Kershaw the second time through the order. In the bottom of the third inning, Yandy Diaz hit a tailing line drive into the right field corner, where Mookie Betts slightly miscalculated his route, allowing the ball to bounce off of the wall and give Yandy Diaz an RBI triple. Randy Arozarena promptly singled in Diaz and the 3-0 Dodgers’ lead evaporated to 3-2 with plenty of baseball to be played.
Glasnow appeared to have settled in, as he ended the top of the 4th with a streak of six consecutive retired batters. The pressure shifted back to pitcher Clayton Kershaw to keep the narrow lead intact.
Kershaw began the fourth frame by walking the speedy Manuel Margot, who immediately exemplified it by stealing second and advancing to third when Dodgers’ second baseman Chris Taylor could not put a squeeze on the throw from catcher Austin Barnes. Frustration appeared on the face of Taylor just one night after misplaying the ball in centerfield on a play that allowed each the tying and winning run to score for the Rays. Kershaw then walked Hunter Renfroe, which set the scene for Joey Wendle with runners on the corners and nobody out as Tampa Bay desperately sought a rally. This is where Clayton Kershaw buckled down and avoided the happenings of his past Postseason struggles. It only took two pitches for Kershaw to induce an infield popup for the first out. Three pitches later, he sent Willy Adames packing on a low curveball. Desperation reeked from the Rays’ dugout, as they feared yet another wasted opportunity in the series. Kershaw set himself on the rubber and stretched his hands up above his head, then slowly lowered them to his belt to deliver the pitch. Noticing the time it took Kershaw to do so, Manuel Margot decided he was going to do the impossible… steal home plate to tie a World Series game. Off Margot went on what would have been the third pitch to Kevin Kiermaier. Intelligently, first baseman Max Muncy (who was holding the runner Renfroe on at first base) stepped off the bag and yelled and pointed to Kershaw, signaling to him to step off and make the throw to the plate. Kershaw noticed just in time, stepped off, and delivered a high throw into Barnes’ mitt, who tagged the diving Margot mere inches before touching home plate.
In the next half inning, Max Muncy expanded the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2 when he hit a long home run (434 feet) off of Tyler Glasnow, who only faced one more batter before his night ended.
Clayton Kershaw breezed through the first two Rays’ batters of the sixth inning. In fact, he retired them while only throwing a combined two pitches. However, before Manuel Margot could dig his cleats into the box, manager Dave Roberts jogged to the mound to talk to Kershaw, who was surrounded by the entire Dodgers’ infield. Third baseman Justin Turner pleaded with Roberts to leave Kershaw in the game, but Roberts decided to make a move. Rookie flamethrower Dustin May was brought in to get the final out of the inning. After a seven pitch at-bat, he struck out Margot swinging on a 101-mph fastball.
One factor as to why Roberts may have decided the appropriate time for May to enter the game was with two outs and nobody on base was the existence of the “three-batter minimum” rule, which is still in its inaugural season. By ending the sixth inning with the strikeout, Roberts maintained the flexibility to pull May from the game at any point in the seventh, regardless of how many batters he faced.
Dustin May breezed through the seventh inning as each teams’ bullpens traded zeroes with ease, until the bottom of the eighth. The Rays decided to jump May early in the count as Kiermaier delivered a first pitch single to lead off the inning. Yoshi Tsutsugo, pinch hitting for Mike Zunino, flied to left on the second pitch of his at bat. Rays’ manager Kevin Cash then decided to deploy left-handed fan-favorite Ji-Man Choi to hit for Yandy Diaz. The change prompted Roberts to make a move of his own, bringing in rookie left-handed pitcher Victor Gonzalez to face Choi. Cash punched back by sending Mike Brosseau to the plate to regain the platoon advantage. After a wild pitch moved Kiermaier to second and created an open base, Brosseau worked a 9-pitch walk. In stepped the ever-so-dangerous Randy Arozarena once again. Arozarena swung hard at the first pitch, but was only able to produce a soft fly ball to centerfield for the second out. Brandon Lowe was next up, and just one night after belting a 3-run home run to give the Rays a 5-4 lead, he was in position to do exactly the same. Lowe took a strike, then was jammed on the next pitch as he sent a blooper to centerfield. Cody Bellinger sprinted in and made the catch look easy; despite only a 45% catch probability according to StatCast, as he covered over 70 feet in about 4 seconds.
The Dodgers were able to hold on, by a score of 4-2, and capture their third win of the World Series, giving themselves a chance to end the series with a win in Game 6. After one scheduled off-day, the World Series will pick back up with Blake Snell facing off against Tony Gonsolin in a Game 2 rematch, which the Rays won.