Dodgers duo Kershaw, Betts key Game 1 win
The reasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ cool, unfiltered confidence this October, the reasons they believe this is finally the year they’ll hoist that piece of metal, were on display in their 8-3 victory in Game 1 of the World Series at Globe Life Field lateTuesday.
Want dominant pitching? Clayton Kershaw held the Tampa Bay Rays to one run and two hits over six tidy innings. What about a power display? Cody Bellinger, sore shoulder and all, cracked a home run for the Series’ first two runs. Think dynamic baserunning is important? Mookie Betts, the Dodgers’ new table-setting weapon, wreaked havoc on the basepaths to ignite a fourrun fifth inning before slugging his first home run off a left-hander as a Dodger the next inning.
The Dodgers blended those elements to take 1-0 series lead, three wins away from their first title since 1988, on the 32nd anniversary of the day that last championship was clinched. Game 2 was scheduled for 8:08 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
“I think we are the best team,” Kershaw said. “And I think our clubhouse believes that.”
This is the 116th World Series in major league history and the first at a neutral site. The PA announcer applied a homey touch. Vin Scully baptized the unprecedented event with the words said before every game at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s time for Dodger baseball,” declared the legendary broadcaster.
Bellinger’s go-ahead home run in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series was the biggest moment of his career. The celebration, however, hurt. Bellinger dislocated his right shoulder when he violently banged right forearms with Kike Hernandez, generating uncertainty on an otherwise joyous night.
The shoulder remained sore Tuesday, but his status was never in question. Any doubt was erased when he clobbered a 98-mph, first-pitch fastball from Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow. The ball landed in the Dodgers’ bullpen beyond the wall in right-center field. After one home run in his first 44 career World Series atbats, he had one in his second Tuesday.
Before the game, he decided he would tap feet with teammates instead. Bellinger went down the line. Tap, tap, tap. His right foot stayed intact and the Dodgers led 2-0.
“I think I’ll continue to do that,” Bellinger said. “Maybe my whole career. Who knows?”
The Dodgers’ next scoring splurge happened on the legs and smarts of their superstar leadoff man. Betts worked a leadoff walk. Then he stole second base to gift the country free tacos from a national chain. After Corey Seager walked for the third time in three at-bats, Betts stole third to become the second player ever with two steals and a walk in the same inning of a World Series game, joining Babe Ruth.
Knowing that the third baseman was not holding him on, Betts lengthened his secondary lead. It proved to be the difference when Max Muncy hit a ground ball to first with the infield in. Betts dashed home on contact and just beat Yandy Diaz’s throw with a headfirst slide, adding to his long playoff highlight reel.
“He’s done just about everything,” Bellinger said.
Los Angeles went on to score three more runs in the inning. They chased Glasnow after he threw a career-high 112 pitches in
4 1⁄ innings and became
3 the first pitcher to issue six walks and give up six runs in a World Series game.
That was more than enough for Kershaw. The left-hander, making his fifth World Series start, wasn’t sharp in the first inning, but he got on track after escaping a two-on, one-out jam. Kershaw’s slider got sharper as the game moved along. The Rays swung at 13 sliders and missed nine times. Six of the whiffs concluded strikeouts.
“I was bouncing my slider like 48 feet and didn’t quite make the adjustment until the second inning,” Kershaw said.
The sixth whiff came when Willy Adames became Kershaw’s 200th career postseason strikeout, moving him to second on the all-time list. Adames was the 13th straight batter Kershaw retired. Then Kevin Kiermaier clubbed a slider over the middle for a solo home run. The run was over, but Kershaw stayed on track.
Kershaw went six innings and had eight strikeouts on just 76 pitches. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, thinking ahead to Kershaw’s possible Game 5 start on four days’ rest, pulled him despite the low pitch count.
The Rays scored two runs in the seventh off Dylan Floro, Kershaw’s replacement, and Victor Gonzalez. They were pressing for more with runners at first and second, but Mike Zunino smashed a 105.6-mph line drive right at Gonzalez, who snatched it and threw to second base for an inning-ending double play. That was the Tampa Bay’s final threat.
... Game 1 drew a recordlow audience of television viewers for a World Series game. Los Angeles’ 8-3 win received a 5.1 rating and was seen by an average of 9,195,000 viewers on Fox from 8:06 p.m. to 11:41 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Nielsen Media Research reported.