Dodgers 6, Astros 2 | Series is tied, 2-2: Cody Bellinger Breaks Through, Leading the Dodgers Past the Astros

HOUSTON — It took until the World Series, but Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger had finally begun to resemble a rookie. He had gone from looking precocious at the plate to besieged, a 22-year-old who was suddenly hitting like one.
Still, despite Bellinger's strikeouts and fruitless at-bats, Manager Dave Roberts saw him keep smiling, so Bellinger remained anchored in the cleanup spot.
That patience was rewarded in Game 4 of the Series on Saturday night as Bellinger delivered two late doubles — one that helped the Dodgers draw even and one that put them ahead — as they rallied for a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros, evening the Series at two games apiece.
The Astros, who will send Dallas Keuchel against the Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on Sunday night in Game 5, were undone by a shaky bullpen.
As closer Ken Giles, who blew a two-run lead in Game 2, tried to protect a 1-1 tie, Bellinger doubled home Corey Seager with the go-ahead run in the ninth. After a sacrifice fly by Austin Barnes off Joe Musgrave put the Dodgers ahead, 3-1, Joc Pederson ended any suspense with a three-run blast.
The Astros managed only two hits all night — solo homers, by George Springer with two outs in the sixth and by Alex Bregman with two outs in the ninth.

Bellinger, who had been 0 for 13 with eight strikeouts before he doubled and scored on Logan Forsythe's two-out single in the seventh to tie the score, helped decide an unlikely pitcher's duel between the team's No. 4 starters, Alex Wood of the Dodgers and Charlie Morton of the Astros.
Wood carried a no-hitter into the sixth, when Springer broke up the scoreless duel with his homer. Morton was only slightly less flawless, facing the minimum number of batters through five innings.
Thus far, each game has delivered an unexpected element. Game 1 came with extreme 103-degree heat. Game 2 brought a rare blown save by Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and late, no-quit, home run-fueled comebacks by both teams. And Game 3 was marred by a racist gesture by the Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel.
Gurriel's act, in which he stretched the side of his eyes after hitting a home run off the Dodgers' Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, provided the backdrop for Saturday night's game.
Earlier in the day, Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Gurriel for five games at the start of the 2018 season, but chose not to discipline him for the World Series, in part because he did not want to penalize the rest of the Astros.
"I think that it gives us all some closure in the sense that it was something that happened," said Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts, whose mother is Japanese. "The way that it was dealt with, I support."

Gurriel, who received modest applause from Astros fans when he came to the plate for his first at-bat on Saturday, was not a factor as Game 4 proceeded. The pitching was.
It was hard to anticipate this type of duel arising with Morton and Wood on the mound. Wood gave up three solo home runs in his only start in the postseason — the one game the Dodgers had lost on their way to the World Series, a 3-2 defeat against the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series.
Morton, in a career limited by injuries and inconsistency, had done little until this season to distinguish himself.
Original Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/sports/baseball/world-series-dodgers-astros.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Post a Comment