DODGERS OPEN UP EARLY GAP TO BEAT RAYS FOR SERIES LEAD
ARLINGTON, Texas — Walker Buehler strutted off the mound Friday night as if this wasn’t the World Series, as if 10 strikeouts in six overpowering innings was nothing, as if these kinds of dominant performances on his sport’s grandest stage are routine.
They aren’t for most pitchers, but most pitchers don’t have the resume Buehler has produced in his young major league career. He is a biggame pitcher in every sense of the overused descriptor. He provided more evidence in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ thorough 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the World Series at Globe Life Field.
The right-hander didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and held the Rays to one run and three hits across six frames. He walked one and became the seventh pitcher in franchise history to compile double-digit strikeouts in a World Series game. He is the first pitcher in World Series history to record 10 strikeouts in six or fewer innings. By the end of the night, he had a 1.80 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 25 innings across five outings in these playoffs.
The 26-year-old Buehler got the ball in Game 3 two years after tossing seven scoreless innings in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox as a rookie. The Dodgers eventually won in 18 innings that night to avoid a 3-0 hole.
On Friday, the Dodgers, whose unwavering confidence after their Game 2 loss derived from the three hurlers scheduled to start the next three games, took a 2-1 series lead, moving within two wins of their first championship in more than three decades. Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol and Kenley Jansen, who gave up a home run to Randy Arozarena with two outs in the ninth, each logged an inning to close it out. Game 4 is scheduled for 5:08 p.m. PDT on Saturday.
The Dodgers’ run-production portfolio, diversified in 2020 to avoid another October disappointment, supplied all the support Buehler needed. Justin Turner and Austin Barnes each slugged a solo home run. Barnes’ homer came two innings after he executed a safety squeeze. Mookie Betts delivered two singles and stole two bases for the second time in the series. They tallied five two-out runs and have 50 in the postseason, breaking the previous playoff record of 46 set by the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
Charlie Morton, the only Ray with previous World Series experience, took the mound opposite Buehler. The last time he pitched this deep into October went poorly for the Dodgers. Morton allowed two runs in 10 1/3 innings in two games for the Houston Astros in the 2017 World Series. He closed out the Dodgers with four dominant innings in Game 7 at Dodger Stadium.
Three years later, the Dodgers had no trouble handling the 36-year-old right-hander. He was pulled with one out in the fourth inning after allowing five runs on seven hits. He threw 91 pitches. The five runs were the most he’s surrendered