*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Series tied 2-2
What the Los Angeles Dodgers had struggled to do so far in this series was to get reliable hitting from their offense. They changed that in game 4. Will Smith homered, Mookie Betts homered, and the Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-2 on Tuesday night.
The win for the Dodgers re-ties the series at two games apiece, and sends the series back to San Francisco for a decisive game 5 on Thursday night, with the winner advancing to play the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, and the losing suffering elimination at the hands of their archrivals.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knew what was to come, saying that "This is what baseball wants. As I understand, all the series are done and so we’re going to be the only show in town. So if you have a pulse or you’re a sports fan, you better be watching Dodgers-Giants. It’s going to be a great one."
Trea Turner got the Dodgers started quickly with an RBI double in the first inning, scoring Corey Seager to make it 1-0 in favor of LA early on. In the second, Gavin Lux scored on a sac fly from Chris Taylor, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Betts doubled the lead in the 4th inning, cranking a two run home run to center field, making it a 4-0 game.
In the 5th inning, Evan Longoria got the Giants on the board, scoring on a groundout from Darin Ruf to make it 4-1 Dodgers. Cody Bellinger then scored on a sac fly from Betts to make it 5-1, getting the run right back. In the 8th, Brandon Crawford scored on another groundout, cutting the deficit to 5-2. In the bottom half, Smith hit a two run home run to center field, giving the Dodgers a 7-2 lead, which they held on to.
Joe Kelly picked up the win for the Dodgers, throwing 2/3 of an inning to finish off the 5th for starter Walker Buehler. In his start, Buehler allowed one run on 3 hits and two walks, fanning 4 hitters across 4 1/3 innings pitched. Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, and Phil Bickford pitched in relief, only Treinen allowing a run.
Betts said of the win that "Everybody was kind of chill, relaxed and wanted to play. It’s not like we’re all of a sudden going to start hitting it harder or throwing it further or throwing it faster or whatever. It’s the same game we have been playing. It’s just a win-or-go-home situation."
Anthony DeSclafani lasted only 1 2/3 innings in his start for the Giants, taking the loss while allowing two run on 5 hits, walking no one and striking out two hitters. 7 relievers were used in relief of DeSclafani, including Zack Littell, Jose Alvarez, Kervin Castro, Jarlin Garcia, Dominic Leone, Tyler Rogers, and Jake McGee.
Giants catcher Buster Posey said of the loss that "This time of year you’re going to face great pitching night-in and night-out. You’re hoping that when you do get some traffic out there, you can get a big hit because sometimes those opportunities are limited. Hopefully that’s something we will be able to do on Thursday."
Game 5, with all the marbles on the line, takes place Thursday in San Francisco, with game one starter Logan Webb going for the Giants, and game two starter Julio Urias starting for the Dodgers.
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