Wow. So, where do they go from here? Last night’s game was epic in every way. All of us are exhausted. Personally, after going to be at 3:15 am Eastern, I’m surprised my brain is functioning enough to write this.
That fatigue will be the story line for Game 4, starting most notably with the Dodgers starting pitcher. You know, that guy who did nothing more than hit two doubles and two homers and got on base all nine times he was at the plate. (Insert Ferris Buehler’s principal’s Nine Times meme here).
The last time Shohei Ohtani pitched a game at Dodgers Stadium, he delivered a game for the ages. Three homers on top of pitching six shutout innings.
We can say for certain that won’t happen again. Well, the six shutout innings very well might, but not the three homers. After Game 3, Toronto manager John Schneider said that they will not be pitching to Ohtani. “You know, he had a great game, he’s a great player, but I think after that you just kinda take the bat out of his hands.” When asked by a reporter is that’s what to be expected going forward, Schneider replied “yeah”.
Indeed, Ohtani was walked his last five at bats. (What an insane sentence). As such, that means the rest of the team needs to step up, and more specifically Mookie Betts. Mookie started the postseason hot, garnering four hits in the first Wild Card game. Since, he has only had one multi-hit game, and four games where he did not have any hits. In last night’s marathon game, he had only one hit in nine plate appearances.
The Dodgers will be facing Shane Beiber, a right hander the Blue Jays acquired at the trade deadline. He has allowed exactly two runs in each of his three postseason outings. However, two of those outing were less than four innings. With both teams having to use all of their available arms, he will be pressed to go deep into the game. In fact, he was loosening up in the Blue Jays bullpen last night. The Dodgers would do well to get to him early.
Another thing to watch is if George Springer will be in the lineup. The Blue Jay’s leadoff guy left the game in the seventh inning, dealing with right side tightness. He went for an MRI and it remains to be seen if he will appear in any more postseason games.
So, lets see what Game 4 has in store. A tidy little win would be nice. Please no more extra innings. (stifles yawn)
World Series Game 4 info
- Teams: Dodgers vs. Blue Jays
- Los Angeles leads best-of-seven series, 2-1
- Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
- Start time: 5 p.m. PT
- TV: Fox (Joe Davis, John Smotz, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci)
- National radio: ESPN Radio (Jon Sciambi, Eduardo Pérez, Jessica Mendoza, Buster Olney)
- Local English radio: AM 570 (Stephen Nelson, Rick Monday)
- Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (Pepe Yñiguez, José Mota, Luis Cruz)
