Dodgers force Series Game 7
Los Angeles wins a pitchers’ duel 3-1 to force a winner-take-all game Wednesday.
As Yasiel Puig sank to his knees in the Dodgers’ dugout, raising his arms in a gesture of pure gratitude, he spoke for everyone who has watched this World Series with an objective eye: It had to go seven. It’s been too good — too ridiculously, unbelievably good from start to finish — to end before its time. Even as we lurch into November, this baseball season has staying power.
In the wake of a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, a crisp and tidy affair in the wake of the sheer madness that took place in Games 2 and 5, Puig’s dramatics spoke for every fan who has followed the team since it moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Great moments have come and gone: Koufax, Drysdale, Garvey, Valenzuela, Hershiser, so many more. And yet, Wednesday night brings the first World Series Game 7 in Dodger Stadium history. How perfectly fitting.
What comes quickly to mind is the relentless character, from both teams, over the past several days. There have been screwups on the field, questionable decisions from the managers, the
usual foibles that have critics pointing the fingers of blame. But it’s unlikely this Series will be remembered that way. It’s been more about elite players coming through under the most intense pressure imaginable, time after time, and so often glorifying the magnificence of youth in today’s game.
To say the least, the Giants are taking a hard look at this. No wonder they’re trying to shake things up; they seem alarmingly removed from the type of rosters the Dodgers and Astros have built.
For the past few seasons, we’ve seen position-player prospects in a San Francisco uniform, none of them entirely convincing. To watch Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman, not to mention so many others throughout this postseason, is to see the real thing. There’s no mistaking the look of a young, fresh-faced player who can’t wait to get a piece of World Series action. It’s a beautiful thing. There will be plenty of time to evaluate those Giants prospects, and those to come; for now, savor the pristine look of baseball’s latest generation.
They say that analytics have taken over the game, and in that sense, it’s highly predictable to see hitters adjust their launch angle (lest they strike the dreaded groundball), starting pitchers leave the game early, and managers plow through a succession of relief pitchers with the panic button close at hand.
What makes this a wonderful game, though, is its tendency to shock. Every year, every postseason, in every conceivable way.
Joc Pederson, the Dodgers’ young outfielder from Palo Alto, had such a dismal second half, he was sent to the minor leagues for a spell. As the playoffs began, the Dodgers chose to keep him off the roster. Now he has three World Series home runs, including the off-field blast that closed the scoring in Tuesday night’s seventh inning. Excited? The Astros probably weren’t thrilled by Pederson’s blatant histrionics as he rounded the bases, but that’s too bad. He earned every bit of the pure exhilaration he unleashed.
We have witnessed, undoubtedly, two of the most compelling games in World Series history. We’ve seen game times of 2:28 and 5:17. If the Dodgers employ Brandon Morrow in relief Wednesday night — and at this rate, why wouldn’t they? — he’ll join A’s reliever Darold Knowles (1973) as the only pitchers to appear in every game of a seven-game Series.
For the managers, this modern-day rush to the bullpen has taken its toll. The Dodgers’ Dave Roberts was grilled for removing Hill too early in Game 2, and yet he made virtually the same move — after 42⁄3 innings — in Game 6 with Hill still looking sharp. This time, it all fell into place, through Morrow, Tony Watson and Kenta Maeda and Kenley Jansen, whose arm had appeared spent after some shaky outings (shades of the Giants’ Robb Nen in 2002?), only to come gloriously back to life in a commanding, six-out save.
The Astros’ A.J. Hinch hated to pull his starter, Justin Verlander, particularly after his last pitch, a 97-mph fastball, blew away Bellinger in the sixth. But with the Dodgers holding a 2-1 lead and Verlander due up second in the seventh, Hinch really had no choice. By the end of the night, his relievers either spent or completely distrusted, he had turned to Francisco Liriano, a forgotten man making his first appearance of the Series.
And finally, on a memorable evening in Los Angeles, there was the sight of Clayton Kershaw loosening his arm in the bullpen. He wouldn’t be pitching this night; too crazy, unless extra innings came into play. But Game 7, with a bit more rest — it seems almost preordained. And no one has a clue what will happen. About anything. As Houston reliever Collin McHugh said after the epic Game 5, “You think you’ve seen everything in baseball, until you haven’t.”
And the ancient game perseveres, so very different, yet refreshingly the same. Game 7. What a glorious way to close the curtain.