Cliff Corcoran looks at the Dodgers future
Sports on earth columnist Cliff Corcoran takes a look at the Dodger future and likes what he sees.
Six of the eight regulars in the Dodgers’ Game 7 lineup will be 27 or younger next year, and only corner outfielders Yasiel Puig (27 next year), who will be in the final year of his seven-year contract, and Joc Pederson (26), who will be arbitration-eligible for the first time, will be making seven-figure salaries.
Cliff does a nice overview of the future of the team but I do disagree with him about several of his conclusions. He feels the Dodgers have so much outfield depth that they can move Chris Taylor from CenterField to 2nd base. In August I would have agreed with him and probably wrote something similar but I no longer do for three reasons.
- I feel Logan Forsythe has proven he is a starting 2nd baseman for a championship caliber team, not yet ready to be a utility player. His struggles came after he was hurt, and once he got healthy he was a big part of the Dodger offense. The eyes and metrics say he’s a fine defensive 2nd baseman.
- Chris Taylor improved so much in center field I’d hate to take him from a position of strength. He was basically a right hand hitting Christian Yelich, and I think his glove will continue to get better as he gets more reps. This is a player who had never played the outfield until this year.
- For all of the Dodger depth in the outfield, they all look like corner outfielders defensively to me. Even though all of them have played CF doesn’t make them CF. Joc, Verdugo, Toles all seem cut from the same corner outfield cloth. Joc may have been the CF for the past 2 2/3 years but between the way, Taylor commanded CF and the way Joc did, it seemed like night and day to me. I don’t know if Puig respected Taylor more or not, but once Taylor took over CF, you never saw Puig trying to catch a ball in RCF that the CF should have caught.
As Cliff noted the Dodgers have so much rotational depth that I would have a hard time seeing them hit the free agent market for a pitcher.
I was wondering about Kenta. He was great out of the bullpen but his contract would preclude the Dodgers from putting him in the bullpen because it would cost him so much money. They could, however, trade from the rotational strength and move Kenta for the bullpen piece if they can’t resign Morrow. The Yankees are a team that comes to mind that could use some starting pitching and have boatloads of quality relief pitchers.
Kershaw, Hill, Wood, Ryu, McCarthy, Stewart, Buehler, Oaks, and Font are the depth. Also still under contract is Scott Kazmir.
Yeah, I agree, now that I write the names down that depth isn’t impressive enough for a team with World Champion aspirations.
Damn that Urias.
Still, Brock Stewart is a major league pitcher and if he isn’t in the rotation he could be the guy to replace Morrow or be added to the bullpen. Oaks and Font are just depth but the kind of depth that could be useful. Would also not shock me if they tried Font in the bullpen.
Walker Buehler is the wild card. Can he pitch five or six effective innings in the major leagues next year by July?
Maybe it won’t be as boring a winter as I first thought.
1966 World Series Highlights
I never saw the 1966 World Series, I only listened to it on the radio and being only seven years old didn’t quite know what was going on. I knew my brothers were mad at Willie Davis but didn’t know why. I just knew the Dodgers were swept by the Orioles.
Later I would find out more about the 1966 series but given how easily I thought they had lost I never dwelt too much on that series, I studied 1965 instead since the outcome was more enjoyable.
Up until 1966 the Dodger fans had only known success in the World Series. They won in 1959 in just their second year in Los Angeles. They won in 1963 in just the second year of Dodger Stadium. They won in 1965 in historic fashion. They had never lost a World Series while being the Los Angeles Dodgers and had won three World Championships in only seven years.
So when they were swept by the Orioles, I expect the town was shocked. Any team with Koufax and Drysdale was expected to be invincible. Koufax and Drysdale did their part but the team forgot to show up. Still it was a very close series, even though the Dodgers were shut out the last three games, they lost 1-0 in games 3 and 4. If they had somehow managed to win one of those games the whole series could have turned because they would have had Koufax pitching game five.
Over at TBLA Brooks Robinson came up and Steve/Mike/Gary all said that he had a great series against the Dodgers in 1966. I went back into the youtube history machine and found this sweet 39 minute review of the 1966 series.
This is more for my sake than anyone.
Game One – I do remember this game as a kid. Moe Drabowsky came in relief and struck out six Dodgers in a row and ended up with eleven strikeouts. He hurled 6 2/3 of relief work and even back then, that was unheard of. The Robinson boys hit back to back home runs in the first inning off of Don Drysdale. The first one by Frank barely escaped being caught by Tommy Davis and was a two-run shot. The second one by Brooks was in the same spot, about ten feet from the foul pole but much deeper. Both were on the field box side of the Dodger bullpen. Down 4 – 0 in the bottom of the second, Jim Lefebvre would hit the only World Series home run for the Dodgers. With the score 4 – 1 in the bottom of the 3rd, the Dodgers loaded the bases on walks from McNally and he was replaced with Moe who walked in a run. Moe got Roseboro for the final out. The Dodgers had scored a run with four walks. The Orioles would score one more run and the Dodgers would lose 5 – 2. Remember that score. 5 – 2. The Dodgers would not score another run in the World Series.
Game Two – pitted 20-year-old Jim Palmer against Sandy Koufax. This game is the game most fans remember. Willie Davis made three errors in one inning. Dropping two fly balls and a wild throw to 3rd. The score had been 0 – 0 heading into the top of the 5th when Willie Davis had trouble with the sun. Three runs would score and they were all unearned. The Orioles would score one more run in the sixth again on a questionable play by Willie Davis. Frank Robinson sent a long fly ball to RCF that appeared as though either Davis or Fairly could have caught but neither did and it went for a triple. Even though that wasn’t ruled an error the Dodgers would make six errors in the game and lose 6 – 0. Jim Palmer became the youngest pitcher in major league history to throw a World Series shutout.
Game Three – pitted 21-year-old Wally Bunker against Claude Osteen. As a 19-year-old in 1964 Wally Bunker had a record of 19-5 and threw 195 innings. Not surprisingly he had arm trouble in 1966 after throwing over 400 major league innings before his 21st birthday. In 1966 he had only pitched 142 innings and was no longer the wunderkind of 1964. Until he faced the Dodgers. In game three Bunker threw his first shutout of the season and beat the Dodgers 1 – 0. The Orioles had scored their run on a 430 foot home run by Paul Blair. The Orioles only managed three hits but one of them was that home run while the Dodgers six hits couldn’t push across a single run.
In back to back games the Dodgers had been shutout by a 20 and 21 year-old.
Game Four – McNally against Drysdale again. Drysdale was fantastic, pitching a complete game and giving up only one run. That run was another home run by Frank Robinson. In the same inning Willie Davis tried to atone for his miscues in game two by making an incredible catch of a Boog Powell drive. The video shows Willie run straight to the fence, then glide five steps to his right and leap a good foot above the face and take a home run away from Powell to keep the score at 1 – 0. It didn’t matter. The Dodgers would lose once again 1 – 0 though it took Paul Blair robbing Jim Lefebvre of a home run in the top of the 8th to keep the Dodgers off the scoreboard.
The Orioles used only four pitchers and gave up two runs in thirty-six innings. Games 2 – 4 were all complete game shutouts.
The Orioles didn’t start a pitcher over the age of 23.
At no time did they show any special plays by Brooks Robinson. He made one nice play to his left to start a DP but that wasn’t anything special.
Wally Bunker saw his career come to an end by the age of 27. Not a kind ending for the wonderkid of 1964 who shut out the Dodgers in game three.
Dave McNally started two of the games. From 1969 – 1971 you could argue he was the best pitcher in the AL. He never won a CYA, but the finished 4th, 2nd, and 4th in those three years.
Luis Aparicio would end up in the HOF
Brooks Robinson would end up in the HOF
Frank Robinson would end up in the HOF
Jim Palmer would end up in the HOF
Frank Robinson would end up playing for the Dodgers.
Dave Johnson was a rookie 2nd baseman for the Orioles and he would end up managing the Dodgers
Boog Powell was on the Dodgers in 1977 but Steve Garvey was the 1st baseman and never let Boog play because he was doing his NL record setting consecutive streak.
Yu Darvish should call Livan Hernandez
I was just curious just how historically bad Yu was in this World. Not as bad as I thought but pretty bad. I looked at every World Series game in the 21st century with a game score less than or equal to 30.
Looking at this list my first thought is that given we are only at 2017 in the 21st century, there sure have been a boatload of putrid starts.
And once again, I get to thank Russ Ortiz for 2002, though it is not as much fun since they have won three rings. It was really fun when they had no rings.
Yu Darvish and Livan Hernandez are on the list twice. They both crapped out in the same World Series and in the same order. Game 3 and Game 7.
Remember this. Next time a pitcher is horrible in game 3 of a World Series and is due to pitch game seven, don’t let him.
Player Date Series Gm# Tm Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Yu Darvish 2017-11-01 WS 7 LAD HOU L 1-5 1.2 3 4 1 0 30 Ryan Vogelsong 2014-10-25 WS 4 SFG KCR W 11-4 2.2 7 4 1 2 29 Livan Hernandez 2002-10-27 WS 7 SFG ANA L 1-4 2.0 4 4 4 1 29 Michael Wacha 2013-10-30 WS 6 STL BOS L 1-6 3.2 5 6 4 5 28 Cliff Lee 2010-10-27 WS 1 TEX SFG L 7-11 4.2 8 6 1 7 28 Yordano Ventura 2015-10-30 WS 3 KCR NYM L 3-9 3.1 7 5 0 1 27 Livan Hernandez 2002-10-22 WS 3 SFG ANA L 4-10 3.2 5 5 5 3 27 Yu Darvish 2017-10-27 WS 3 LAD HOU L 3-5 1.2 6 4 1 0 26 Kevin Appier 2002-10-20 WS 2 ANA SFG W 11-10 2.0 5 5 2 2 26 James Shields 2014-10-21 WS 1 KCR SFG L 1-7 3.0 7 5 1 1 25 Jake Peavy 2014-10-28 WS 6 SFG KCR L 0-10 1.1 6 5 1 2 23 A.J. Burnett 2009-11-02 WS 5 NYY PHI L 6-8 2.0 4 6 4 2 22 Jarrod Washburn 2002-10-24 WS 5 ANA SFG L 4-16 4.0 6 6 5 1 22 Josh Tomlin 2016-11-01 WS 6 CLE CHC L 3-9 2.1 6 6 1 0 20 Jeff Francis 2007-10-24 WS 1 COL BOS L 1-13 4.0 10 6 3 3 18 Andy Pettitte 2001-11-03 WS 6 NYY ARI L 2-15 2.0 7 6 2 1 17 Josh Fogg 2007-10-27 WS 3 COL BOS L 5-10 2.2 10 6 2 2 14 Woody Williams 2004-10-23 WS 1 STL BOS L 9-11 2.1 8 7 3 1 11 Russ Ortiz 2002-10-20 WS 2 SFG ANA L 10-11 1.2 9 7 0 0 9
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/2/2017.
Dodger free agent musings
The Dodgers have six free agents this year. I would be comfortable with none of them returning. Since I can’t speak for the Dodger front office I can only say what I think I’d do.
Chase Utley – his postseason failures the past two years have negatively impacted the opinion of his solid regular seasons. I’ll have to look at the options available for left-handed second baseman but I suspect there aren’t many options. I do think Logan Forsythe is the everyday 2nd baseman next year as Dave Roberts got more and more comfortable with him, so we are just looking for someone who can give him a break against some tough right-hand pitchers. His defense might not be worth the average offensive output. His intangibles are hard for me to quantify but I’d say after two years with Chase they should have learned everything they needed to learn from him. I have loved watching Chase play for the last two years, I will miss him but at this point, I think I say later gator.
Yu Darvish – hard pass. I wanted to trade for him to help the team in the postseason. He kind of did that, but he also killed them in the World Series. When he shit the bed in game three it directly affected the rest of the World Series. He’s 31. He’s inconsistent. And yes, even with all he’s done, you could say he’s still a project. Let him drive someone else crazy. I’m very interested in seeing who he signs for and how much. I don’t think anyone with his pedigree has ever been a free agent after being such a bust in a World Series.
Brandon Morrow – I’d like to be on the Morrow train but I can’t drive it. I love everything he did for the Dodgers this year, but he’s going to get paid this offseason and I don’t want to be the team overpaying for one great season out of five. Maybe he’s the guy from this point on who stays healthy and brilliant now that he found his role in relief so I’d offer him a contract but I wouldn’t go crazy. He thrived here, he may want to re-sign here, I’d re-sign him to a two-year max, anything else, bye bye.
Tony Watson – Watson did exactly what the Dodgers wanted when they traded for him. I don’t think he’s any better than Luis Avilan. With Tony Cingrani already in front of him on the left-handed relief depth chart, he is another part of the bullpen that I’d let go if someone wants to overpay in years and money. I’d offer him a contract and expect him to turn it down and find someone else to dance with.
Franklin Gutierrez – I expect him to retire but even he doesn’t, later gator.
Curtis Granderson – they had a need, he did not fulfill the need. They won’t have the need next year. later gator.
Andre Ethier is not technically a free agent but he will be as soon as the Dodgers execute the 2.5M buyout. The Dodgers have basically played two full seasons without Andre while paying him 35M for a handful of games. If Alex Verdugo can’t do what a 36-year-old Andre Ethier can do, then he was highly overrated as a prospect. When the Dodgers do execute the buyout, Andre will get the column he deserves. In his prime, he was always underrated, and over time might have to be considered one of the top three Dodger left fielders of all time.
Game Seven thoughts
If that is the last hit by Andre Ethier as a Dodger (and it should be) that is about as cool a way to go out as you could envision
Every fan had to be frustrated that of the three possible starters for game seven the one that was chosen shit the bed, while the other two pitched six scoreless innings between them.
In 1965, in game seven Walter Alston had Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax warm up as though each were going to start. I might have done the same last night with Kershaw and Yu.
You can count on Kershaw to be nails for 12 outs in a postseason appearance
Chris Taylor gave us one last reason to cheer him with that outstanding catch. We know who our CF of the future is and it is not Joc Pederson or Alex Verdugo.
Dodger fans were outstanding last night. They supported Yu as long as they could. He did nothing to earn that support.
If the Dodgers couldn’t be champions I’m glad it was Houston who was.
Can’t ever recall a starting catcher losing his job during the postseason. Grandal went from starting to a timeshare to being invisible.
Houston doesn’t need a postseason bullpen when each of their exiled starters kick ass out of the pen.
I was so wrong on Yu
I was so wrong on Bellinger for game seven. I really felt he was going to have a big game.
There were empty seats that were never filled during the game. Possibly they were just using the standing areas. Just felt weird to have an empty seat next to me, and four behind me.
Puig didn’t have a productive world series but I feel he has turned the corner and while the production didn’t show it, he appeared mentally ready for the postseason for the first time.
Justin Turner went from our Big Papi clutch hitter to a big reason why the Dodgers had to play a game seven.
I felt after Yu was lifted that Dave Roberts did a great job in managing the team but it was too little too late. Having Jansen face the heart of the lineup in the 7th was the right move. You couldn’t let them score again. Of course, it took a brilliant catch by Taylor for that strategy to pay off but it did.
Luck was not our lady last night.
I would have liked for the Dodgers to come out on the field after the game so the fans could give them one final ovation for a great season and a well fought World Series. Yet, I understand how problematic that would be with Houston celebrating their World Championship.
George Springer put on quite a show
Game seven disappointments
These don’t have anything to do with the game. You can read that in over twenty other Dodger blogs, this has to do with how Dodger Stadium prepared for game seven.
For a game seven, I expected more hoopla than opening day. Didn’t happen.
As I was walking onto the stadium grounds I eyed the Budweiser Clydesdales and thought, damn they are bringing out the big guns. I was there at 02:20 for a 05:20 game and the horses were still in their trailers so I wandered over and took a few photos. Say what you want about Budweiser beer, the Clydesdales are cool.
I entered the stadium and got a rally towel. It is blue. It says Dodgers. It says nothing about the World Series. They couldn’t even bother to print up rally towels that say World Series on them. Hell, the average retail price for the World Series ticket was over $500 (not second market cost) and they couldn’t even give you a World Series rally towel keepsake?
That may sound petty, and it very well could be.
With hours to kill I started going into all of the merchandise stores so I could get some World Series gear.
Nada
Not a damn thing was available. No hats, no clothes, no nothing.
I bought a World Series Program but that was for the whole World Series not for game seven.
The street vendors outside the Stadium on the walk in had World Series gear, the Dodgers didn’t. I assume the problem was simply supply and demand which would mean that the Dodgers didn’t order enough World Series merchandise to meet the demands of their fans. Happens. Maybe they spent a chunk of their budget on World Series Champion merchandise? That will look good where ever they end up sending it too.
The other petty complaint that they didn’t do any pregame hoopla. Now normally I wouldn’t care, but this being my first and possibly only World Series game, I wanted some hoopla. They didn’t introduce the players on the field, they were simply introduced via the public address announcer as though this was just another game.
Why was that skipped for this game?
The Clydesdales never made an appearance inside the Stadium. Why were they there?
No flyover
I loved seeing Newk and Sandy throw out the first pitch but I have to admit, a cool tribute might have been having a relation to Roy Campanella and John Roseboro catch their throws being they were the main catchers for both pitchers and have both passed away. We have seen Rick Monday and Steve Garvey many times before.
And why couldn’t they find some video to put on the board about Newk? That might be a hard archive to find but somewhere they have to have film of the greatest pitcher of 1956?
I left the game with one momento. A World Series soft drink cup. I don’t even have a ticket because they don’t do hard tickets anymore.
On the way back to Chinatown I purchased my World Series gear from the street vendors. The prices had dropped from $20 to $10. I heard some people haggling at $5. Come on people, you just paid over $1000 for a ticket to a World Series game and you want to screw the street vendor out of any profit at all?
Really?
Oh, and dammit now I have to agree with Bill Plashcke about Yu Darvish
99 out of 100 pitchers would not have pitched so bad in consecutive starts.
Also George Springer would have gotten my MVP vote even if the Dodgers had won the Series.
Yu Darvish just Dave Goltz’d the fans
Watching the game unfold last night I was struck with a little bit of deja vu. It was kind of eery how game seven mirrored the last time I had sat at Dodger Stadium in a must-win game against the Houston Astros.
It was Oct 6th, 1980 and the Dodgers had just swept the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium to force a play-in game for the 1980 postseason. The town was in a frenzy and arrived at the game in huge spirits with full expectations that a victory was only a few hours away.
I had gotten tickets and talked my Dad into taking a day off from work as it was a Monday and the game was going to be played during the day. The crowd was on its feet during the player introductions and stayed that way for most of the game.
Dave Goltz was the pitcher and with the crowd pumped up to full volume an error was made by Steve Garvey at 1st base. Just like an error was made by Cody Bellinger. Two runs ended up scoring and the Dodgers were down 2 – 0 in the 1st, just as they were down 2 – 0 last night after one inning.
In the 3rd inning, it all came apart with Goltz allowing two more runs on an Art Howe two-run home run. George Springer hit his two-run home run in the 2nd inning to chase Darvish. In 1980 they waited until the 3rd inning to chase Goltz.
Either way, in both games the team was down 4 – 0 in 1980 after three innings and down 5 – 0 in 2017 after two innings.
The two big differences between the games were Houston scoring three more runs in the 4th against Rick Sutcliffe while Houston never scored again last night once Yu was removed.
In both games, Houston never scored again after the fourth inning. In 1980 it was 19-year-old Fernando who pitched two scoreless innings along with Stever Howe. Last night it was Brandon Morrow, Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, and Alex Wood.
In both games, the fans had been bent by the failure of the starting pitchers for the Dodgers to make it a competitive game but they never gave up. Until the last out, they cheered and cheered hoping for some offense.
In both games, the Dodger 1st baseman batted fourth and didn’t collect a hit while making an error in the 1st inning.
Three times in 1980 the Dodgers had two runners on base but kept failing to get the big hit. Last night it seemed the Dodgers had runners on base every inning except the last one.
The final score last night was 5 – 1, in 1980 it was 7 – 1. The two players who threw out the first pitch last night played in that game in 1980, Steve Garvey and Rick Monday.
For one year I didn’t forgive Dave Goltz for his piss poor pitching performance but 1981 happened. We outlasted Houston in the NLDS and went on to win the World Championship.
It would not surprise me the slightest if that happens in 2018.
You think you were loud last night?
Dodger fans don’t have anything on the 1980 fans who by now are probably sucking on oxygen in a nursing home or annoying their family members because they refuse to die.
Josh Wilker over at Cardboard Gods just did a write up on Joe Ferguson and mentions the 1974 World Series throw which is a classic.
However, my favorite Joe Ferguson moment was the walk off home run in the 1980 final series against Houston. It was Oct 3rd, 1980 and the Dodgers were down three games with three games to go. This was the first game on a Friday Night.
Listen to that crowd. Watch how Joe carries his helmet around the bases with him and flings into the crowd as he rounds 3rd base. That home run is probably the third home run that jumps into my mind when I think of Dodger home runs.
Imagine if that would happen in a game seven?
Game Seven will cost you $1500
[Update 11/01/2017] Tickets dropped to 1,000 this morning so I”M GOING TO GAME 7
Since Dodger Stadium has never hosted a game seven before it is no surprise that the price of a ticket has a bottom price of $1500 on seatgeek. Game Six tickets dropped all the way to $400 as I think everyone was saving their money in case there was a game seven.
It is one thing to go to a World Series game, I imagine it is quite another to go to a game seven World Series game.
As I said before this series deserved a game seven and I’m glad we have one. I can honestly say, I’ll be satisfied with this season no matter what happens on Wednesday Night, though I do feel that the Dodgers have the advantage.
Good luck to all of you who have tickets or are going to get one.
Chavez Ravine gets her closeup
In the grand history of the greatest stadium in baseball history she has never hosted a game seven World Series, but tomorrow she will and the place will be going crazy.
I fully expected the Dodgers to win tonight and they did not disappoint.
I fully expect Tuesday night to be a 3 – 1 game. All those offensive records have to come to a standstill.
Everyone did the job they had to do.
Rich Hill almost got fifteen outs, but in this game, fourteen outs will do when you only give up one run.
Brandon Morrow kept the game close and looked like the pitcher we saw every game this year except game five. I heard a lot of second-guessing when Morrow came in for Rich Hill but I don’t know why. He was tired on Sunday but he only threw seven pitches (all bad) and had yesterday to get his arm back in gear. Dave Roberts made the right move, no way can you let Rich Hill pitch to Alex Bregman. This was the meat of the Houston lineup with Bregman/Altuve/Correa coming up. Morrow didn’t just get Bregman out to end the fifth, he started the sixth and also got Altuve/Correa out before giving up a single to the most booed player in the history of Dodger Stadium.
With two out, one on, and the left-handed McCann coming up, Roberts brought in Tony Watson to get McCann. He didn’t. He hit him instead, but he made up for it by getting Marvin Gonzalez to end the top of the sixth. Eighteen outs and the Dodger staff had given up only one run.
Now they needed to score.
Austin Barnes started the sixth with a nice line shot to left field which brought up Chase Utley who had come in on a double switch. You hated seeing Chase replacing Logan Forsythe but that was the price Forsythe paid by making the last out in the fifth inning. You couldn’t have Watson bat second in the 6th? Or could you? Wouldn’t Chase simply have pinch hit for him instead of doing a double switch? Either way, it was Chase batting 9th. I thought he’d bunt, but he was swinging away and was quickly down two strikes when Verlander made the biggest mistake of the game and hit Chase putting runners on 1st/2nd with Chris Taylor coming up.
That pitch changed the whole complexion of the game.
Christ Taylor made Verlander pay for that mistake by hitting a two-strike pitch down the right-field line to score Barnes with the tying run and put runners on 2nd/3rd with no outs. Corey Seager almost put the game out of reach with a three-run home run but Josh Reddick caught his long high fly ball with his back pressed against the wall. Nonetheless, Chase Utley ran home with the go ahead run and the Dodgers had a 2 – 1 lead. Verlander finished off Turner/Bellinger but his line was done. Verlander had been great but that one mistake turned a 1 – 0 lead into a 2 – 1 deficit. Once again the Dodgers had gotten to Verlander in the 6th inning.
Could they hold the lead this time?
Watson started the 7th but quickly walked Josh Reddick. I’m sure that wasn’t the game plan for the left-handed Watson to walk the weak hitting Reddick. Roberts wasted no time and went to Kenta Maeda. Paul Bunyan pinch hit for Verlander and somehow lumbered his way to 1st base on what I thought was a sure double play given how slow he is.
Now it gets dicey. Top of the lineup to face Kenta. Luckily he holds Springer to a single but that brings up Bregman with two on and one out. Bregman just gets under it and Houston has two out and two on with Jose Altuve up. He’s hit seven postseason home runs. This series has had a boatload of three-run jacks. Kenta is pitching his 3rd game in five nights. This was nervous time. Deep breaths with each swing from Altuve who seems to come out of his shoes with every swing. Finally, on his last swing of game six he tops the ball to Turner and is out on a bang-bang play at 1st as Bellinger scoops up the low throw.
One run lead, bottom of the 7th. Houston has to go to their beleaguered bullpen and once again the bullpen does not do their job. Joc Pederson who had not hit an opposite-field home run during the regular season hits one into the left-field pavilion where a fan makes a futile attempt to catch the ball and it smacks a lady fan behind him. That fan will never live that down.
3 – 1 lead, Kenley Jansen for six outs. Kenley doesn’t dick around as he retires all six Houston hitters and the Dodgers get their game seven.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 