*Photo from Call to the Pen*
LAD leads series 2-1
Los Angeles Dodgers C Austin Barnes, once their starter, has taken somewhat of a backseat to Will Smith this season. Despite his new role, Barnes is still no slouch, and he proved it on baseball's biggest stage. Barnes homered and dropped down a sac bunt, Justin Turner had a big day at the plate, and the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays by a 6-2 score to take a 2-1 series lead in the world series.
Turner started the scoring in the first inning, when he hit a solo homer to left field to put the Dodgers ahead 1-0. In the 3rd, Max Muncy extended the lead with a two run single to make it 3-0 Dodgers. In the 4th, Barnes dropped down a sac bunt, scoring a run, and Mookie Betts hit an RBI single to extend the Dodgers lead to 5-0. In the 5th, Willy Adames got the Rays on the board with an RBI double, making it a 5-1 game. In the 6th, Barnes homered to center field to make it a 6-1 Dodgers lead. In the 9th, Randy Arozarena hit a solo homer for the Rays to make it 6-2.
Walker Buehler got the win for the Dodgers, throwing 6 dominant innings. Buehler allowed one run on 3 hits and one walk, striking out a whopping 10 Rays hitters. After Buehler, Blake Treinen got the 7th, throwing a perfect inning. Brusdar Graterol threw a scoreless 8th, and Joe Kelly got the 9th, allowing the solo homer to Arozarena.
Turner was asked about the Dodgers plate approach this series, and Turner said that "We’ve put together tough ABs and battled, move the ball forward and put something in play, and good things happen."
Charlie Morton got the loss for the Rays, throwing 4 1/3 innings in a subpar start. Morton allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and one walk, striking out 6 Dodger hitters. After Morton was lifted, John Curtiss threw 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run. Ryan Sherriff, Ryan Thompson, and Shane McClanahan each threw scoreless innings of relief after.
Morton said after the game of his performance that "I feel like I was able to get to two strikes pretty quickly with a lot of guys, but wasn’t able to put them away, even some of those pitches that I was getting ahead -- actually, a lot of them -- they just weren’t very well-executed. And then there in the fourth and fifth, stuff wasn’t really there, the command wasn’t really there, and they’re just too good for that."
Rays catcher Mike Zunino said of the Dodgers lineup that "It’s one of those things -- very good lineup, very balanced lineup, they capitalized on a couple mistakes that we made. There’s a couple pitches we kinda wish we had back. But that’s what a good lineup does. They were patient, worked his pitch count up and ultimately had some big hits when they needed it."
The series continues Saturday night, where the Dodgers look to take a commanding lead on the world series as Julio Urias starts game 4. The Rays look to tie the series again with Ryan Yarbrough taking the mound.
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