The Dodgers kept me up till 1am to get an 18 inning win to get back in the series in game 3. This game was a quick turnaround as Rich Hill took on Eduardo Rodriguez as the Dodgers looked to tie the series. Both teams looked tired from yesterdays 7 hr game as both teams couldn’t get going. Rich Hill looked dominant tonight keeping the Red Sox hitters of balance.
Had no chance 😮
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/WaN9CXQJYV
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) October 28, 2018
It took the Dodgers till the 6th inning to finally wake up. David Freese hit by pitch. Justin Turner then hit a double with one out. Manny Machado then was walked. Cody Bellinger then grounded out into a fielders choice. Hernandez was thrown out at home. Christian Vasquez then tried to double up Cody Bellinger but threw the ball away and Justin Turner scored and the Dodgers took the lead. Then Yasiel Puig came up to bat and did this.
PUIGGGGGGGG!
3-RUN HR!
LA IS ROCKING! pic.twitter.com/IT9hkVIoyH
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 28, 2018
At this point with the stadium rocking and 4-0 lead. The Dodgers were in good shape to tie this series and send it back to Boston. Rich Hill was taken out after giving up only one hit in the top of the 7th with one out. Scott Alexander came in with one man on base and walked Brock Holt. He was taken out and in came in Ryan Madson. Ryan Madson got Jackie Bradley Jr.to make an out. Mitch Moreland came in to pinch hit. The Dodgers infield met with Madson to go over something. On the first pitch, Moreland hit a three run shot and the score 4-3 Dodgers.
In the top of the 8th, Kenley Jansen came in and got Andrew Benentendi out. Steve Pearce then came up and hit a solo shot to tie the score 4-4. Second night in a row that Jansen has given up a homerun. The air went out of the stadium even though the game was tied. In the bottom of the 8th, the Dodgers had an opportunity with runners and two outs. Yasmani Grandal struck out to end that threat.
Dylan Floro came in to pitch the 9th. Brock Holt hit a double. Rafael Devers then singled in a run. Mookie Betts was walked and Alex Wood was brought in. Wood gave up an infield single. Kenta Maeda came in to face Steve Pearce. Pearce hit a double to score three runs. Xander Bogearts then singled in a run and the score was 9-4. Kike Hernandez hit a two run shot in the 9th and the final score was 9-6.
Boston is a great hitting team, but the record shows they are a poor hitting team against lefty fastballs, apparently especially sweeping lefty curveballs like Hill throws. Roberts for the second straight game went to closer Kenley Jansen in the eighth inning. Jansen is his best reliever, but the eighth inning hasn’t been his friend. Rather than call on Pedro Baez, his second best reliever, he installed Dylan Floro, who’s a decent pitcher but far from a bullpen star, into a tie game in the ninth inning.
Roberts stuck with the righty to face left-handed pinch hitter Rafael Devers instead of going to Pedro Baez. Roberts probably should have walked Devers with a base open, or at the very least called upon lefty Alex Wood to face Devers with the game on the line.
No way should Devers be getting a chance against Floro there, that’s sure. Tomorrow the Dodgers will have Clayton Kershaw on the mound to save their season against David Price.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
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Game 4 was in their pockets, then DR makes some rediculous decisions.
DR Takes Hill out. “D Mountaiin” was doninating the BoSox. They could not hit the mighty curve.. Dodgers had a commanding 4-0 lead, and game basically in the bag.
DR turns to “ANAL”-ytics and got bit in the a**. I say screw Anal-ytics! DR blew this one, I’m sorry to say. Even Trump chimed in and took the time to slam DR. That was a laugh. Is Trump really that knowledgable with Baseball? I don’t think so. It does not take a baseball genious to realize the obvious.
DR Brings in Madson, who gives up a 3 run dinger… why Madson? He has done nothing this post season. Then DR brings Jansen in, in the 8th for a possible 6 out save… what? Jansen proceeds to give up a game tying dinger (again?). Then Floro, Wood, and Maeda could not put out the fire, and let the BoSox steal the game.
Hill’s quality start, and Puiggie’s heroic, epic 3-run homer wasted.
Smirk and Grandal suck…. So what else is new?
Can Dodgers come back to sweep the last three games? Not imposible, but a huge task. Could have boiled down to a three game showdown, but ends up 3-1 deficit and possible elimination tomorrow.
Almost went to the game today, but decided to watch it on TV at a Sports Bar. Saved myself $800 on two Tixs. Whew!
Keshaw’s last chance for WS redemption, and possibly his swan song as the Dodger Ace, who may elect to jump ship in 2019.
Do we really have to hear Lasorda sing, “Bye Bye Bye” tomorrow, or can they stretch it out to a seven game WS victory? Anything can happen.
The following is my opinion and nothing more. The Dodgers are going to lose this World Series. That is almost a certainty. Oh, they might not get beat tomorrow if Kershaw is the CK we have all enjoyed for years, but the series is basically over. Boston is by far the superior team. They have proved it on the field and they damn sure have a better manager. Roberts is getting roasted on twitter and almost every blog there is. The owners and the front office are going to have a huge PR problem. Reason? easy, their acquisitions have fizzled under the heat of the Series. Machado has been all but useless, Madson a disaster, and the rest of the team save JT, and Muncy, about as offensive as a dead apple. Yeah, Yasiel had a huge homer tonight and it was wasted as the Dodger skipper once again over managed instead of letting his pitcher do his job. Hill had Boston hitters flabbergasted. He had them swinging at thin air and not hitting that. Then Dave the dork let it all slip away by making some of the worst pitching changes in the history of the Dodgers. Nothing worked. Jansen, Madson, Wood, Floro, Alexander and Maeda were the gas can brigade, and what ever hope the city of Los Angeles had of a Series Championship went down in flames as balls were flying all over Dodger Stadium and it wasn’t the Dodgers doing the hitting. This winter the Dodgers will have a lot of money available to re-tool the machine. But the fan base is getting restless. They have wasted almost all of Kershaw’s career and no title. Kersh will likely opt out and get a nice deal somewhere else, maybe his home state of Texas. Machado will go where the money is and it won’t be LA. Roberts will most likely return as manager, and the fan base is not really going to like that very much. Especially with the way he has managed this fiasco of a series. They need to win 3 in a row against a vastly superior team. For the most part they have been out pitched and out played, and definitely out managed. But I feel deep down that the only good memory Dodger fans will take from the 2018 series is that marathon win the other night. Roberts has seen to that. I for one am not content with them just getting to the series. The city and the fans deserve a win. Oh, how I wish Corey Seager had been healthy all year. He at least knows how to hit.
Machado all but useless? Leads the team in post season rbi’s with 12 and is #2 MLB in post season and #1 in NL. #5 in runs, #1 in NL. #2 in hits in MLB and NL behind Turner.
The Dodger problem is 5 of their players are in the top 10 in SO’s, plus……….
BA-.211, OB%-.306, Slugging%-.348, OPS-.654
A .211 BATTING AVERAGE!!!!
Maybe in the post season as a whole. In this World Series he has 4 hits, all singles. Turner is the only player who has been hitting at all. The entire lineup is lousy. We are after all talking about the World Series and this so called great player has been pathetic. I for one cannot wait to get Corey Seager back.
Jeff, Machado, useless, indeed.
The Smirk may have 4 RBI, but he has killed many rallys and blown scoring oportunities in key moments. Prime example, JT has been getting on, but Machado has failed to cash him in. His lackadaisical play, and no sense of urgency is detrimental to the team Chemistry.
As far as Seager, he is definitely missed. I blame FO and medical staff for not taking his injury seriously, and if they had discovered the severity of the injury sooner, he would be playing right now. I cannot wait for him to return.