Seager looks like he’s back in groove
Corey Seager, in his return to the Dodgers lineup in the World Series, has showed little rust after missing the National League Championship Series with a lower back sprain.
Seager hit an oppositefield two-run home run in the sixth inning Wednesday, and the Dodgers expect him to start at shortstop during the games played under American League rules in Houston this weekend.
Manager Dave Roberts listed Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson and Yasmani Grandal as candidates to start at designated hitter.
“Unless something changes today, I don’t see why [Corey] wouldn’t start at short for us,” Roberts said.
Pederson is left in
Roberts chose to start Pederson over Ethier in left field against hard-throwing Astros right-hander Justin Verlander.
Roberts indicated the Dodgers felt Pederson was more likely to handle the velocity of Verlander’s fastball, which averaged 95.2 mph this season, according to FanGraphs.
And he was right. Peterson blasted a solo home run with two outs in the fifth inning for the Dodgers’ first run.
Pederson also represented a defensive upgrade over Ethier, Roberts said. Even so, Chris Taylor started in center field, Pederson’s former home.
Special pitch
The traditional first pitch at World Series games can lead to special moments. The one before Game 2 seemed extra special.
The public-address announcer told the crowd it was time for the first pitch, and Vin Scully walked out to a reception unlike any other. He mentioned Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges and Duke Snider and how they must be laughing their heads off watching him throw.
He asked for a catcher, and out walked 1981 World Series co-MVP Steve Yeager.
Scully went into his windup, then grabbed his arm. “I think I tore my rotator cuff: I need a left-hander to relieve me.”
The crowd started a “Scully! Scully” chant. Out walked Fernando Valenzuela to another huge ovation. He threw out the first ball. Scully then led the sellout crowd in saying “It’s time for Dodger baseball!”
Different sort of series
This isn’t Cody Bellinger’s first World Series.
When he was 12, the Dodgers rookie played in the Little League World Series on a team from Chandler, Ariz.
“I think this thing is a little bit bigger,” Bellinger said this week.
Bellinger is also one of the few Dodgers who has ridden in a World Series victory parade. His father, Clay, played for the Yankees in 2000, when the team won a championship, and that fall the family piled into a convertible and rode through the streets of New York City.
Bellinger doesn’t remember much about that — he was 5 at the time — but he’d like to give the parade thing another shot this fall. “Hopefully there’s going to be one here in L.A.,” he said.
Exchange of Fields
Along with utility man Enrique Hernandez, reliever Josh Fields is one of two Dodgers to have played for the Astros. He is the only player in this series to be dealt from one team to the other. The Dodgers acquired him from Houston at the 2016 trade deadline.
“It’s a little weird,” Fields said this week. “I haven’t played against them since being traded. It’d be a little weird, especially being on this stage. It’s gonna be interesting.”
And it was. Field pitched to three batters in the 10th inning, giving up back-toback home runs to Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa and then a double to Yuli Gurriel.
He actually pitched well during the regular season. He came into the game with a 2.83 earned-run average over 761⁄3 innings, with 82 strikeouts against 23 walks.
andy.mccullough@latimes.com