The Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox each need a win for a rendezvous in the World Series. The Dodgers were able to rely on Pichting Ace Clayton Kershaw, while the Red Sox again benefited from a big hit from Jackie Bradley Jr.
After his disappointing performance in game 1 of the series, Clayton Kershaw made an impressive comeback. The left-hander wobbled briefly in the third inning and allowed an RBI double by Lorenzo Cain, but apart from that there was nothing to be gained against the Ace of the Dodgers.
Kershaw pitched seven innings and allowed a whole three hits (2 BB, 9 SO). It was his eighth postseason start with one or fewer runs and three or fewer hits. No other pitcher in MLB history has done this more than five times!
Meanwhile the problems of the Dodgers with runners on base continued offensively at the beginning. With runners on 1 and 2, Manny Machado beat at an out into a double play at the end of the inning.
Meanwhile, the Brewers had caused confusion right from the start. For them, left-handed Wade Miley stood on the mound, left-handed Cody Bellinger walking directly. And then Miley “waltzed” himself – from the Mound! How quickly it became clear that Miley was just a distraction for the Dodgers to send their regular lineup into the race against left-handers.
But they did so only conditionally, because both Bellinger in the Center Field and Max Muncy on second base were away in the lineup at the start – as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported, the Dodgers suspected such a manoeuvre and were prepared accordingly. For Miley Brandon Woodruff came after only five pitches right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who finally held out 5 1/3 innings (5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 SO).
Against him Chris Taylor beat a lead-off infield single in the fifth inning and got to second base by an error from Shortstop Orlando Arcia. With an Out and Infield in it was finally Austin Barnes who took care of the balance – RBI single through the middle.
The Dodgers went on in the seventh inning. With runners on 1 and 2, Muncy beat an RBI single against Woodruff, who was then replaced by Corbin Burnes. And he finally gave an RBI single with two outs to Yasiel Puig. 3-1 Los Angeles!
In the seventh inning, the Dodgers then had two more runs against Joakim Soria, the first of which even came from Kershaw himself, who earned two walks in the game.
The guests, on the other hand, had nothing to oppose except an RBI double with two outs by Curtis Granderson in the ninth inning and are now facing a playoff finish.
Game 6 of the series will rise in the night to Saturday at 2:39 am (live on DAZN) in the Miller Park of Milwaukee. The Dodgers will send Hyun-Jin Ryu to the Mound, Miley will be the starter at the Brewers again – this time probably for a longer performance than just for a battery.
The defending champion is on the verge of extinction. In a real offensive exchange of blows it was again the Boston Red Sox who not only got the better start, but also laughed last. As in the previous two games, Outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was the biggest hit in the game.
The Astros sent Charlie Morton to the Mound, which had not pitched since the end of September. Correspondingly rusty, the right-hander seemed to have had little feeling for his breaking ball already in the first inning and allowed two runs directly. Both score on a 2-run single with two outs by Rafael Devers.
The Astros were still on the verge of equalizing in the same inning, but an Opposite-Field-2-Run-Homerun by Jose Altuve was negated by an apparently wrong decision of Right Field Umpire Joe West. He decided on fan interference because a spectator supposedly prevented Mookie Betts from catching his jump at the wall.
However, TV pictures showed that the fan was by no means reaching over the outfield wall, so it was technically okay for him to reach for the ball. The video headquarters in New York, however, did not see enough of the pictures to correct the decision. That’s how it stayed at 2-0 for Boston.
Numerous more runs followed, with the home side not being able to equalise until the third inning. George Springer hit a home run and Josh Reddick brought Altuve home on an RBI single. In the fourth frame Houston took the lead for the first time: Solo-Homerun by Tony Kemp!
The Red Sox equalled in the fifth inning to 4:4, before Carlos Correa increased in the same section by a RBI single from Carlos Correa to 5:4.
For the Astros Reliever Josh James had already taken over in the third inning for Morton (2 1/3 IP, 3 ER). And although he got noticeably tired, Astros manager A.J. Hinch still held on to him in the sixth frame. A serious mistake, because James not only gave a 2-out double to Christian Vazquez, but also the 2-run Homerun to Bradley. He has already collected nine RBI with two outs in this series – all in games 2 to 4!
In the seventh inning, Houston’s best reliever took over Ryan Pressly, who was not in shape either. He loaded the bases with two Walks in a row, whereupon Lance McCullers Jr. took over and allowed the run to 7:5 for Boston – also by Walk! One inning later the guests even increased to 8:5 with a RBI single by J.D. Martinez.
Red-Sox-Closer Craig Kimbrel made it really exciting in the end. He downloaded the bases and was lucky that Andrew Benintendi had a Diving Catch for the final out in Left Field Flyball by Alex Bregman.
Remarkable: The Red Sox had at least one base runner in each inning of this game and in each of the first eight innings there was at least one run in total.
The Red Sox are now clearly in the lead and have three match points in the ALCS. Already in game 5 (Friday, 2.09 a.m. live on DAZN) they can make everything clear. It remains to be seen who they will send to the Mound, because it won’t be Chris Sale, because he doesn’t feel fit enough after his stay in hospital. The Astros will send Ace, Justin Verlander, into the race.
This article was published without prior review by Major League Baseball.