FINALS SET
Dodgers put away Braves to set up World Series vs. Rays
The Los Angeles Dodgers have made it a mission to win the 2020 World Series.
After losing out in the Fall Classic in both 2017 and 2018, they'll get another crack at it against the Tampa Bay Rays.
That after Cody Bellinger's seventh-inning solo home run held up for them in Sunday's Game 7 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball's National League Championship Series.
“It's going to fun,” Bellinger told Fox Sports. “We know Tampa's good … We're going to do what we can to bring the trophy home.”
Perhaps the third time — in four years — really is the charm for the Dodgers.
Of all the big boppers on the Dodgers — and there are plenty — Bellinger is the biggest.
The reigning NL MVP's solo shot came in the spotlight of the seventh game to give the Dodgers the clutch 4-3 victory at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Bellinger blasted a no-doubter — he knew it from the moment it left the bat — over the right-field fence off Braves reliever Chris Martin to break the 3-3 deadlock.
“I just tried to stay with myself right there,” Bellinger told Fox Sports post-game. “With two strikes, I was in battle mode (fouling off three), and I got a pitch I could hit. You know right away — it felt really good.”
From there, it was up to Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias to shut the door on the Braves in the final two innings.
He did to cap a rally from down three games to one against the Braves.
“Man … we're resilient,” Bellinger told Fox Sports. “Every day when you see the lineup that we have, we think, `We can do this — why can't we do this?' We won three games (in a row) before all the time.
“We've been in this situation before. We were grinding.”
The Dodgers are chasing their seventh World Series crown and first since way back in 1988.
It's their 24th trip to the Fall Classic.
The Braves got on the board early on Marcell Ozuna's first-inning RBI-single to score Ronald Acuna Jr. But Dodgers starter Dustin May limited the damage to just that one run, getting clean-up hitter Travis d'Arnaud to hit into a double-play and then Ozzie Albies to strike out.
In the second, Dansby Swanson greeted new Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin with a solo home run, giving the Braves a two-run lead.
But the Dodgers got them back in the third inning on Will Smith's single to score both Justin Turner and Max Muncy.
The Braves didn't wait long to break the tie, though, threatening again with ducks on in the fourth and getting Albies home on an Austin Riley single. But bad baserunning from Swanson and Riley kept them from having a big inning, as the Dodgers tagged them both out on run-downs off the same play.
But in the bottom of the fourth, the Dodgers themselves threatened and fell short — and didn't even cash in a run after Braves reliever Tyler Matzek surrendered two singles and a walk to load up the bags before striking out Muncy.
The Dodgers would, however, tie it up in the sixth when Kiki Hernandez replaced Joc Pederson and hammered a no-doubter to left field for only the second pinch-hit home run in Game 7 history, joining Troy O'Leary with the Chicago Cubs in the 2003 NLCS. Hernandez hit it off struggling Braves pitcher A.J. Minter.
The tie game then set the stage for Bellinger's big bat.
“It was a team win,” Bellinger told Fox Sports. “The Atlanta Braves are an amazing team. It was not an easy series. And that was fun right there.” stage for Bellinger's big bat.
RAYS REPRESENTING AL
`Champa Bay?'
That's a nickname which is gaining traction on Florida's Gulf Coast.
And why not, since there's plenty of reasons to be excited about the sports teams in the Tampa Bay area?
There's the Lightning partying these days with the Stanley Cup.
The Buccaneers might be feeling like they're Super Bowl-bound with Tom Brady aboard the ship, especially after conquering Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
And how about those Rays?
It was ding, dong … the wicked witch is dead' Saturday night when the magic of winning pitcher Charlie Morton, ALCS MVP Randy Arozarena & Co. made the muchhated Houston Astros disappear from the 2020 Major League playoffs.
After staving off elimination three straight nights, the Astros — finally — fell Saturday to the Rays in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
And … oh, yeah … the Rays are headed to their second-ever World Series.
“That sounds amazing,” Rays catcher Mike Zunino told TBS. “It hasn't been the easiest road to this point ... This is what we play for. This is going to be fun.”
The Rays earned the championship series berth after holding off the Astros in a Game 6 4-2 knee-knocker at San Diego's Petco Park.
So it's the Rays representing the American League in the Fall Classic.
When last we saw the Rays in the World Series, it was 2008.
Derrick Henry rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns and the Tennessee Titans blew a twotouchdown lead only to rally for a 42-36 overtime win over the Houston Texans ... The Titans (5-0) amassed 601 yards, with quarterback Ryan
Tannehill passing for 364 yards and four touchdowns to complement Henry. Tannehill engineered a nineplay, 76-yard drive in the waning moments, and his seven-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown with four seconds left forced overtime.