Mike Zunino hits a massive foul home run, the Rays are getting some solid pitches to hit so far. He takes the next pitch and then swings at a breaking ball he could have done nothing with. He takes the next pitch for a full-count, the Gonsolin pitch count is now at 39. Okay, 40 now as Zunino stays alive by fouling the next pitch off.
He just barely hits the next pitch, but it’s foul. Still 3-2. Now, Gonsolin gets him to swing and miss. Two down.
Well, that was quite a strain for Gonsolin at the start of this pivotal Game 6. Not sure he will last more than 4 innings and with Snell’s starts usually curtailed, what’s the odds that the winning pitcher comes from the bullpen?
Like 70% maybe? Gonsolin definitely is not long for this game no matter how well he settles down and neither team is going to be conservative about heading to the ‘pen. They will live their life like there’s no tomorrow, as Van Halen would say.
Justin Turner, probably the Dodgers’ most dangerous weapon this series, is up next with bases empty after Snell got those first two quick strikeouts. He gets ahead 0-2 here before seeing if he’ll swing at a ball outside. Turner does not, but he strikes out on the next pitch.
This time the bumper music is the Allman Brothers Band’s “Jessica.” Is it just going to be all hippie jam bands tonight?
Hey Hunter, I sense it’s the City of angels year.. lakers, Dodgers, and the Rams! I gotta a feeling the rays have given all they had, reminiscent of the Lakers thrashing the Heat in the finals…7-1
Well they have to pitch a shutout the rest of the night, but it’s still on the table as a possibility.
Arozarena has 10 homers in his first 25 career playoff games. Only Beltran (13!) and Nelson Cruz (11) ever had more at the start of their postseason careers.
Joey Wendle is up next, still runners on first-and-second. Wendle fouls a 1-2 pitch off of himself, somehow without flinching, and then strikes out to end the top of the inning. The Rays have struck first however. Oh hey, is that Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” as bumper music? I strongly approve of that (even if it would have been more appropriate if the San Francisco Giants were playing).
Manuel Margot takes a high pitch on 0-2. Nice take. 1-2. He fouls the next pitch off and then takes a pitch in the dirt. Gonsolin finally jams him and he flies out. Two out.
Okay, the game theoretically will be starting shortly. I suppose it’s last call for a prediction. I have the Dodgers winning tonight, a low-scoring affair where the Rays keep putting on the tying run late but can’t drive him in. Let’s say Dodgers 4, Rays 3.
Agree? Disagree? You could send your predictions here via email (to [email protected]) or tweet them to @HunterFelt.
Apparently the thing about Gonsolin is that he’s a cat person. That’s a very, very cheap way to get otherwise neutral individuals to root for him and it’s absolutely working for me.
Alex Rodriguez just interviewed Dave Roberts and mentioned his ALCS-changing Steal from 2004. It turns out that this is now considered “history.” I feel old, but I’m also rewatching the clip to see if it makes me feel a little better about the Boston Red Sox’s lost season. (Not really, but it was worth a try.)
I’ll say this about team sports: in the most uncertain year of many of our lives, it’s good to sit down and watch something and know that there will be a definitive resolution in a matter of hours. If the Dodgers end the game having scored more runs than the Rays. they win the World Series. If the Rays have more runs, there will be a Game 7 tomorrow. It won’t take weeks to sort out, there’s no way that either team could just refuse to leave the field and have some sort of higher authority eventually declare them winners.
With the Dodgers on the verge of winning their first World Series since 1988, there is sure to be at least one or two references to Kirk Gibson’s legendary home run from that particular World Series (although that was a Game 1 rather than a deciding game, it should be pointed out).
Should the Dodgers win today, there will probably be celebrating going on in Los Angeles. Normally, that’s a positive thing or at the very least neutral. However, considering the reports that the festivities following the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA Finals victory almost certainly contributed to the spike of Covid-19 cases. So, LA’s department of health has sounded an alarm:
“As fans continue to watch and celebrate the mighty LA sport teams, we are mindful that if individuals are not adhering to the health officer order requirements of distancing, infection control and masking, cases will continue to rise which, unfortunately, not only leads to increased illness and deaths, but also slows down our recovery journey,”
The Rays will start Blake Snell, while the Dodgers will go with Tony Gonsolin. However, those will most likely just be the opening attractions, look for both teams to empty out their pitching staffs and play this game like there is no tomorrow because, well, there might not be.
Well, I’ll give credit where credit is due. It was a weird, pandemic-shortened MLB season but at least it’s ending with some drama. Despite coming in as underdogs to a much-more heralded Los Angeles Dodgers team, the Tampa Bay Rays have managed to make the World Series, well, a series. At the very least, no one will ever forget the dramatic-yet-silly way they stole Game 4. The Dodgers struck back in Game 5, buoyed by yet another strong start from longtime ace Clayton Kershaw, who has now put his past October struggles in the rearview mirror. The Dodgers are up 3-2 in the series and just need a win today to secure a championship.
It’s a little difficult to wrap one’s head around the fact that the Dodgers, who have consistently been one of the best teams In the National League, have not actually won a championship. That’s October baseball for you, eight straight postseason appearances have ended with failure. Should they blow this 3-2 World Series lead to the Rays, it will certainly continue the narrative of them being underachievers, and the inexplicable way they completely melted down in Game 4 will go from just being a strange but entertaining game to the 21st century’s closest equivalent to Game 6 between the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets way back in 1986.
That, of course, would be selling the Rays short. They don’t have as much talent as this Dodgers lineup, and a comparatively tiny fanbase, but even when they’ve come up short, they have continued to the put the pressure on their more heralded opponents. If they can pull off a win today, they will force LA to play a Game 7. As exciting as those are for casual fans, no team wants their entire season to come down to a single game where, as they say, anything can happen.
So those are the stakes for Game 6: either it ends today or the Rays extend the MLB season for one more game. That means we’re in “speak now or forever hold your peace” territory. If you want to contribute to today’s liveblog, you can send us your thoughts via email (to [email protected]) or via Twitter (to @HunterFelt). Game 6 is scheduled to start at 8:00 pm EST, but obviously, we’ll be back before then.
