Dellin pitches in for Girardi
first pitch.
The task for disarming the Astros fell to Kershaw. The heat did not bother him. He grew up in the suburbs of Dallas. This felt like home. Just past 4:20 p.m., he wore a windbreaker as he walked to the outfield to warm up. His presence elicited a sizable ovation from the crowd, those who had broken through the traffic on Sunset Boulevard to get into the ballpark.
Kershaw retired the side in nine pitches to start the game. His teammates provided him a lead for his return in the second inning.
Keuchel won the American League Cy Young award two seasons ago. He flings two-seam fastballs and changeups at the base of the strike zone in search of groundballs. He relies on soft contact. Only three Dodgers had ever faced him before.
One of those was Taylor. Keuchel retired him three times in 2014, two years before the Dodgers acquired Taylor from Seattle, three years before Taylor revamped his swing and emerged as a budding star.
The first pitch Keuchel threw on Tuesday was an 88-mph fastball down the middle. Taylor smashed it two dozen rows deep into the leftfield pavilion.
Kershaw logged 73 pitches through six innings, only allowing an Alex Bregman homer to tie the game at 1-all in the fourth. Due up second in the bottom of the sixth, he ambled into the on-deck circle without any discussion with Roberts. He grounded out and returned to the dugout. A rally would begin behind him.
Taylor became the first player in the game to take a walk. He held off as Keuchel tantalized him with fastballs off the plate. The two-out walk brought Turner to the plate.
Nine days earlier, Turner had inked himself into franchise lore with a walk-off homer against the Cubs in the NLCS.
He added to his historic dossier against Keuchel. An 87-mph cutter drifted toward Turner’s hands. The baseball soared into left, carrying and carrying in the heat-stricken air, until it landed on the other side of the fence.
And all this from a player in Turner, who never got the chance to play every day with the Mets from 201013 and left through free agency. But his star has burned brightly in L.A., smacking a career high 27 homers last season, inking a $64 million deal in the offseason and making his first all-star team this season. The slugger leads the team with four homers in the postseason, one shy of the club record set by Davey Lopes in 1978. He has reached base safely in all nine games in the postseason, and his 14 RBI lead all players in the playoffs.
Coupled that with Kershaw and the Dodgers were more than able to beat the heat — and the Astros — in Game 1. — with the AP
Dellin Betances would like to see Joe Girardi back for 2018 and beyond.
“I don’t know what’s the plan with that, but Joe’s always been good and I’m hoping that everything works out,” Betances said Tuesday as he left Yankee Stadium.
Girardi’s four-year, $16 million deal will expire at the end of the month. He exited the Stadium at 1 p.m. Tuesday after spending an hour there.
The 53-year-old manager guided the Yankees to within a victory of the World Series, and several young players made huge strides under his watch. It seems like a situation he’d want to stay in, given the potential for sustained success.
But there have also been rumblings that he could walk away to spend more time with his family, which Girardi plans to talk to about his future.
“I love what I do,” Girardi said during the postseason. “I’ve always said, the first thing that I do is I always talk to my family first. They come first. Because I think when you have a job, your family has to buy in, too. It’s not just what you want out of life. It’s everyone buying in. So I’ll sit down, talk to my wife and kids and see where they’re at and what they’re thinking. And then we’ll see what the Yankees are thinking.
On Tuesday, an ESPN podcast suggested it could come down to a difference in money between the two sides. Brian Cashman is also in the final year of his deal, though the GM seems like a lock to return given the way he transformed the roster into a contender much quicker than expected while elevating the farm system as well.
As for Betances, he also expects to return following an up-anddown 2017 campaign.
“I’m still under team contract so I’m guessing I’ll be back,” said Betances, who is arbitration-eligible.
Betances understood why Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson were used more in high-leverage situations during the playoffs.
“At the time I wasn’t pitching as good so you’ve got to be understanding at that point,” Betances said. “But I’ll be back to being my old self.”
Betances plans to take three weeks off before getting back to work in the offseason. His inconsistency in his delivery produced too many walks.
Betances is close with CC Sabathia, who was also spotted leaving the Stadium on Tuesday. He hopes the 37-year-old veteran, now a free agent, comes back as well.