David D’Annibale, Staff Writer |
The city of Los Angeles gets to celebrate again as the Dodgers have defeated Tampa Bay in game six to end their World Series drought and claim their seventh title. The last time the Dodgers won was in 1988 against the Oakland Athletics. The team has finally redeemed themselves after losing three World Series in the past four seasons .
In game one of the series, the Dodgers sent out their ace Clayton Kershaw to face off against Tyler Glasnow. The game remained scoreless through the first three innings but in the next inning, Los Angeles struck first. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run home run to give his team a 2-0 lead. At the top of the fifth, the Rays scored their first run of the game with a home run by Kevin Kiermaier. The Dodgers offense exploded in the bottom of the fifth inning by scoring four runs. Tampa Bay could not recover, and the Dodgers won 8-3.
In game two of the series, the Rays were able to bounce back with the help of Brandon Lowe. Through the first five innings, Lowe hit two home runs to help his team take a 5-0 lead. Tampa’s bullpen held tough throughout the rest of the game to lead the Rays to a 6-4 win to tie the series.
Game three of the series was decided by Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler who pitched six innings and allowed only one earned run with 10 strikeouts. The offense also put up five runs through the first four innings. Meanwhile, the Rays’ offense was flat and couldn’t get anything going, losing with a final score of 6-2.
Game four turned out to be the most exciting game of the series as the Rays rallied in the ninth to defeat the Dodgers with the final score of 8-7. In the ninth inning, Tampa trailed 7-6 and was able to get runners on first and second. Brett Phillips hit a single up the middle to tie the game but a mistake by the center fielder and the catcher allowed the go-ahead run to score.
Game five was the turning point of the series for the Dodgers. Kershaw led the team to a victory with a strong pitching performance. The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead and never gave it up. The bullpen was able to keep the Rays at bay and won 4-2.
Game six of the series was decided by one crucial decision in the sixth inning. The Rays led 1-0 after Randy Arozarena hit a home run in the first. With one out and a runner on first, the manager pulled out starting pitcher Blake Snell despite only having 73 pitches. The bullpen pitcher Nick Anderson struggled immediately and took the lead. Los Angeles captured all the momentum and went on to win 3-1.
After the game was concluded Justin Turner returned to the field to celebrate with his team despite being removed from the series after testing positive with COVID-19. Turner went back onto the field without a mask which put all teammates and coaches at risk. According to the MLB, Turner refused to listen to MLB officials who told him to isolate and chose to break the rules instead. Regardless, the Dodgers were happy to finally win in the World Series and will hope to ride this momentum into next season.
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