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Post by Admin on Oct 19, 2020 4:28:33 GMT
Cody Bellinger hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to the World Series for the third time in four years by topping the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series on Sunday night. Bellinger connected an inning after Kiké Hernández became the first pinch hitter with a game-tying or go-ahead homer in a winner-take-all-game. His homer tied it at 3 and, like Bellinger’s, came on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. After winning both their NL Division Series and the NLCS in the new $1.2 billion Globe Life Field, the Dodgers get to stay in place for the World Series. Game 1 against the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays is Tuesday night. The Dodgers again will try to win their first World Series title since 1998. They lost Game 7 at home three years ago to to the Houston Astros, and then lost in five games to the Boston Red Sox in 2018 when Mookie Betts was the AL MVP and playing against Los Angeles. Tampa Bay’s win in Game 7 of the ALCS late Saturday night wiped out the chance for an October rematch with the Astros, whose 2017 World Series victory over the Dodgers has been heavily tarnished by the revelations of Houston’s sign-stealing tactics that season. Betts, the first-year Dodger signed for 12 more years, made another incredible defensive play, robbing NL MVP candidate Freddie Freeman of a solo homer in the fifth. Julio Urias, the fifth Dodgers pitcher, retired the last nine batters for his fourth win in four appearances this postseason. The 24-year-old right-hander, already in his fourth postseason, has a 0.57 ERA in these playoffs. The massive shot to right by reigning NL MVP and 2018 NLCS MVP Bellinger came on a 94-mph sinker after fouling off three pitches in a row by Chris Martin, the fifth Braves pitcher who started the seventh with strikeouts of Max Muncy and Will Smith.  |
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Post by Admin on Oct 19, 2020 7:50:07 GMT
Cody Bellinger's dramatic home run catapulted the Los Angeles Dodgers one step closer to their dream Hollywood ending.  The World Series was set Sunday after the Dodgers captured the National League pennant by beating the upstart Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in Arlington, Texas, in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. Bellinger's seventh-inning blast broke a 3-3 tie created by Kiké Hernández's solo home run the previous inning. Their heroics were made possible by teammate Mookie Betts, who made a wall-climbing, homer-robbing catch off a blast hit by Braves slugger Freddie Freeman in the fifth inning. The Dodgers trailed in the series 2-0 and 3-1 before rallying to keep their dominant 2020 campaign alive. Los Angeles was baseball's best team in the regular season, winning 43 of 60 games, an incredible 71.7 percent winning rate, while scoring 136 more runs than their opponents. "Man, we're resilient," Bellinger said. "The Atlanta Braves are an amazing team. It was not an easy series, and that was fun right there." Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reflected on the strange summer marked by the coronavirus pandemic, protests against systemic racism and now a National League pennant. "I'm just so proud of these guys. It's been a crazy year, guys away from their families, social injustices," the emotional manager said. "This year is our year. This is our year!" The Dodgers will meet the analytics-driven Tampa Bay Rays, who won the American League pennant Saturday by beating the scandal-plagued Houston Astros. The Rays were the American League's best regular season team, winning 40 of their 60 games. |
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Post by Admin on Oct 20, 2020 0:14:54 GMT
Clayton Kershaw, who avoided an emergency relief appearance over the last two games of the just-completed National League Championship Series, will start Game 1 of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Monday.
Kershaw, who will be making his fifth career World Series start, will oppose Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow on Tuesday (first pitch from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, is 7:09 p.m. CT).
How a text from Dad helped turn Cody Bellinger into an October hero
Manager Dave Roberts said Walker Buehler will pitch Game 3 and is still undecided about Game 2 and Game 4. Buehler would be on three days' rest. Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Julio Urias, all of whom were used in Sunday's Game 7, are their other three starters.
Kershaw was scratched from Game 2 of the NLCS because of back spasms but recovered in time to start Thursday's Game 4, allowing one run through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. The 32-year-old left-hander made himself available out of the bullpen for Games 6 and 7, but Roberts wanted to avoid using Kershaw in hopes of saving him for a potential World Series opener.
Kershaw finished the regular season with a 2.16 ERA, 62 strikeouts and only eight walks in 58⅓ innings and experienced a slight uptick in fastball velocity. Glasnow, 27, went 5-1 with a 4.08 ERA in 11 regular-season starts and has allowed eight runs in 13⅓ innings over his last three postseason appearances.
Glasnow will take the ball on five days' rest and will be followed by lefty Blake Snell in Game 2.
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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2020 20:44:39 GMT
Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was removed from Game 6 of the World Series in the eighth inning following a COVID test that came back confirmed positive. Though FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reports he was asked not to join in the team’s postgame festivities, both he and the Dodgers insisted he participate. Turner did, sometimes without a mask, celebrate the victory on the field with his team.
The World Series hadn't seen anything quite like it in what was the most extraordinary of finales that posed as many questions as it did talking points.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Justin Turner had to be pulled in the middle of his team's World Series-securing Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays after testing positive for Covid-19.
Turner initially didn't join his teammates on the field for the post-game celebrations and tweeted: "Can't believe I couldn't be out there to celebrate with my guys!"
However, he did eventually return to the field to celebrate, hugging his teammates, posing for photos with the roster and at times not wearing a mask, which has led to both the 35-year-old third baseman and the Dodgers organization coming in for criticism.
"I don't think there was anyone that was going to stop him from going out [onto the field]," Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers president of baseball operations, told reporters after the game.
Friedman added that Turner had been careful not to mingle with those he "hadn't already been in contact with," but said he didn't keep an eye on him during the post-game celebrations.
"If there are people around him without masks, that's not good optics at all," Friedman said, adding that he was "not sure" if the Dodgers would be able to travel back to Los Angeles from their bubble in Texas.
In a statement, the MLB said Turner "chose to disregard the agreed-upon joint protocols and the instructions he was given regarding the safety and protection of others."
It added: "While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner's decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong and put everyone he came in contact with at risk. When MLB Security raised the matter of being on the field with Turner, he emphatically refused to comply."
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Post by Admin on Nov 5, 2020 4:22:37 GMT
Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger is a former MVP, a former Rookie of the Year, and is now a World Champion. But the question most asked of the LA outfielder often has nothing to do with baseball… Is that dude high? Well, on Thursday night in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the talk show host was blunt (if you will) in asking Belli about his headspace. In a car parked at Subway restaurant on his way home to Arizona, Cody was asked by Kimmel, “do people think you’re high all the time?” Almost perfectly, his video froze, but his eventual answer was… interesting.  “I am not high during the games, OK?” he said with a hand gesture. “If you look at me in the Little League World Series at 12 years old, I look faded! I was not smoking when I was 12 either! I’m not high, that’s just how my face looks.” At this point in the interview, I’m honestly not sure which is the bigger story, Cody’s revelation or teammate Clayton Kershaw’s reaction throughout the question and answer. But perhaps the most important story to come out of this World Series and ensuing days of celebration was a firm but not so definitive answer from Cody Bellinger about his general sobriety. At least we know he guarantees it’s not during the games! |
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