Hill took the ball in the top of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts waived at a curve in the dirt for strike three to start. Andrew Benintendi hit a weak fly to left but Steve Pearce drew a lucky walk. JD Martinez waived at 90 mph fastball down the middle for strike three to end the inning. Rodriguez started out the bottom of the first by striking out David Freese with a high fastball. Max Muncy grounded out to first but Rodriguez nibbled and nibbled only to walk Justin Turner. Manny Machado flied out to right to en the inning.
Xander Bogaerts continued his incompetence by popping up to first to start. Eduardo Nunez whiffed badly but Brock "The Hitman" Holt drew a lucky walk. Christian Vazquez flied out to the left field warning track to end the inning. Rodriguez got Cody Bellinger to ground out to first to begin the bottom of the second before Yasiel Puig flied out to center. Chris Taylor lined a base hit to left but Austin Barnes looked at strike three to end the inning.
Rodriguez himself led off the top of the third by getting hit with the pitch but literally jogged to second on a slow roller to third by Mr. Mookie, getting thrown out by a mile. Benintendi popped up to short and Pearce popped up to left to end the inning. Rodriguez did get Hill to pop up a bunt to first to start the bottom of the third before Freese popped up to right. Muncy popped up to left to end the inning.
The incompetent Red Sox offense continued to slump in the top of the fourth as Martinez whiffed on nothing but fastballs down the middle to start. Bogaerts hit a weak ground ball to second and Nunez whiffed on a straight fastball to end the inning. Rodriguez stayed strong in the bottom of the fourth as Turner poked a single to right but blew away Machado on a full-count. Bellinger whiffed and Puig popped up to second to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as usual as Holt grounded out to second to start. Vazquez got a lucky hit to left but Rodriguez looked at strike three. Mr. Mookie popped up weakly to center to end the inning. Rodriguez froze Taylor with an inside fastball for strike three to start the bottom of the fifth. Barnes grounded out to third and so did Hill to end the inning. 5 shutout innings by Rodriguez after not starting in a month.
Once again the useless Red Sox offense did nothing in the top of the sixth as Benintendi was retired on a swinging bunt to start. Pearce popped up weakly to left and Martinez lined out weakly to short to end the inning. That's 24 innings, 8 hits and 1 earned run by the Sox offense in LA. Pathetic.
Right on cue the Dodgers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Rodriguez plunked Freese to start. Enrique Hernandez ran for Freese but Rodriguez froze Muncy for strike three with a slider at the knees. Naturally Turner effortlessly lined a double into the left field corners to put runners at second and third. Machado was intentionally walked to load the bases and the Sox made yet another boo-boo in this series. Bellinger hit a perfect double play ball to first and Pearce fired home for the force but Vazquez threw the relay to first completely out of Dodger Stadium to score Turner with the go-ahead run. Given new life Puig crushed a 3 run bomb into the Chavez Ravine to ice the game. Puig jogged around the bases, kissing his biceps, posing and pointed as Rodriguez threw his glove down. Cora came out to get Rodrigez one batter too long after Eduardo pitched his ass off but allowed 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Matt Barnes came in and walked Taylor but blew away Barnes to end the inning with the Dodgers up 4-0.
Chris Sale gave the team a surprise tongue lashing in the dugout saying this was embarassing before the top of the seventh inning. It helped as Bogaerts drew a leadoff walk. Hill blew away Nunez with 3 fastballs down the middle and that was it for Rich. Hard to hate a guy from Milton, MA toss 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball in the World Series. Scott Alexander came in and walked Holt on four pitches before departing. Ryan Madson came in to pitch to Vazquez but Jackie Bradley Jr pinch hit for him. JBJ weakly popped up to second and Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Barnes. Moreland woke up the Sox by crushing the first pitch he saw into the right field stands for a 3 run home run. Mr. Mookie continued to be useless by grounding out weakly to the mound but good for the Sox to show some life down 4-3.
Joe Kelly was summoned for the bottom of the seventh with Sandy Leon behind the plate and Joe froze Pederson on a full count curve on the outside corner for strike three to start. Hernandez lined out to center but the pain in the ass Muncy lined a single over the head of Nunez. Turner popped up to center to end the inning.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to his closer for the six out save and the Sox tagged him. Benintendi grounded out weakly to first but Pearce blasted a solo shot just over the wall in left to tie the game. Martinez whiffed on 3 pitches right down the middle and Bogaerts popped up to right to end the inning. Bogaerts, Betts and Martinez were now 0 for 12 with 4 strikeouts but the game was tied 4-4.
The Dodgers almost took command in the bottom of the eighth as Machado started the rally with a base hit to center. Bellinger whiffed on a nasty pitch before Puig beat out a double play ball. Taylor singled Puig to third before Yasmani Grandal pinch hit for Barnes. Kelly blew him away to end the inning.
Dylan Floro came in for the top of the ninth and Nunez hit a piece of crap pop up 10 feet to first to start. Holt hit a ground ball double down the left field line before Rafael Devers pinch hit for Leon. Devers delivered with a base hit up the middle to score Holt with the go-ahead run. Blake Swihart pinch hit for Kelly and hit a perfect double play ball to Hernandez but he hesitated to throw to second and had to settle just to get Swihart at first. Mr. Mookie was intentionally walked and that was it for Floro. Alex Wood came in and Benintendi hit a cue shot to third that he beat out for a single to load the bases. Roberts made ANOTHER pitching change, this time making a double switch. Kenta Maeda took the mound with Brian Dozier coming in to play second. Pearce cemented his hero status with a bases clearing double to the wall to give the Sox a 4 run lead. Roberts had Maeda foolishly intentionally walk the struggling Martinez and Bogaerts singled home Pearce. Nunez flied out to the left field warning track to end the inning but the Sox were 3 outs away from victory with a 9-4 lead.
With a 5 run lead, Sox manager Alex Cora took no chances and brought in Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel to close out the game. Unfortunately Kimbrel walked Dozier on 4 pitches not even close before the light hitting Hernandez blasted a 2 run bomb halfway to Sacremento to cut the lead. Muncy grounded out to second but Turner hit the hardest hit single in history. All of a sudden Rafael Devers made the play and throw of his life to rob Machado of a single, Machado stepping on Pearce's heel in the process. One out away from victory Kimbrel got Bellinger to pop up to left to end the game. The Sox had served it back to the Dodgers and rallied down 4-0 to hand the Dodgers a 9-6 win to go up 3 games to 1 in the World Series.
Hero of the Night is Steve Pearce. His solo home run tied the game in the top of the eighth and his 3 run double iced it in the 9th.
The Good:
Brock Holt was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Rafael Devers pinch hit for Leon and singled in the go-ahead run before scoring the insurance one.
Matt Barnes got the final out of the 6th inning.
Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Barnes and blasted a 3 run home run.
Joe Kelly got the win with 2 scoreless innings of relief.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Craig Kimbrel gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 5 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but walked, drove in a run and scored.
Christian Vazquex was 1 for 2 at the plate but made the critical throwing error that led to the 4 run rally.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched a heck of a game for someone that hadn't started in almost a month. He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs, he was in one batter too long.
Honorable Mention:
Sandy Leon caught the 7th and 8th innings.
Final Thoughts:
Right back at you LA! After the Dodgers broke the hearts of the Red Sox last night it was Bostons turn to crush the spirits of the Dodgers. The Dodgers got a tremendous outing from Rich Hill and were flying high after the Puig home run. Sale's emotional outburst fired up the Sox and they roared back to rip their hearts out. Moreland and Pearce came up big with their home runs and Devers pinch hitting the go-ahead run in was just as big considering his age. All in all the Sox showed some life for the first time in LA and now they're one win away from taking the championship. Its one thing to show emotion in the world series, its another to act like a 12 year old and Puig's celebration rubbed the Sox the wrong way. The only question is if they're going to use that and Machado's spike on Pearce as motivation for tomorrow. That will be answered tomorrow night as the Sox look to close out the World Series when they send David Price...yes, not Sale....to the mound opposite Clayton Kershaw in Game 5 at 8:05 PM at Dodger Stadium. One more win and they're the champs.
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