LOS ANGELES _ The result could not be considered unthinkable, because October baseball expands the realm of possibility and exposes the soul to untold anguish. The Los Angeles Dodgers had avoided this fate for so much of these playoffs. They were the team who broke hearts, who snuffed out dreams. Except until this week, they had not stared down an opponent like the Houston Astros.
On Wednesday evening, in the final innings of Game 2 of the World Series, the veneer of invincibility surrounding the Dodgers bullpen shattered beneath the might of Houston's offense in a 7-6 defeat that tied this series at one victory each. Kenley Jansen blew a save by yielding a solo homer in the ninth. Josh Fields yielded two more in the 10th. After scoring two runs in the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers turned to Brandon McCarthy for the 11th.
There was no one left in the bullpen. McCarthy had appeared in only five games since the All-Star break. The Astros ground him to dust. George Springer boomed a two-run shot to put this game on ice. A home run by reserve infielder Charlie Culberson cut the deficit to one in the 11th, but the Dodgers were out of comebacks.
The Astros had erased a two-run lead in the eighth and the ninth innings. Brandon Morrow allowed a leadoff double to third baseman Alex Bregman. Two batters later, shortstop Carlos Correa rolled an RBI single up the middle off Jansen. An inning later, Jansen fed outfielder Marwin Gonzalez a cutter at the belt. Gonzalez stunned the crowd with a game-tying homer.
In the 10th, Fields served up a pair of mammoth home runs to second baseman Jose Altuve and Correa, the latter punctuated his blast with a prodigious bat flip _ the bat landed in the infield in concert with the ball in the left-field pavilion. As the homers soared through the night, the aroma of a nearby brushfire wafted over Chavez Ravine.
It felt like a metaphor. Until the bottom of the 10th, when the Dodgers offered a reminder of their own ability to singe a bullpen. Yasiel Puig greeted Astros closer Ken Giles with a solo home run. Logan Forsythe took a two-out walk, and Enrique Hernandez incited bedlam with a single to tie the score.
For the second night in a row, a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth gave the Dodgers the lead. Astros ace Justin Verlander did not allow a hit through the first four innings. In the fifth, Joc Pederson punished a hanging slider. An inning later, Corey Seager connected for his first homer of the postseason after Chris Taylor had walked. He made it count, as the ballpark shook beneath the weight of 54,293 exhilarated patrons. The Dodgers needed only the two hits to depose Verlander.
On Aug. 20, two weeks before Houston acquired him from Detroit, Verlander subdued the Dodgers for eight innings at Comerica Park. He struck out nine and surrendered just two hits. But he was facing a depleted version of the Dodgers lineup. Adrian Gonzalez started at first base. Curtis Granderson led off. Hernandez played center field on a day off for Chris Taylor. Cody Bellinger was nursing a sore ankle.
For most of this postseason, as the Dodgers conquered opposing pitchers such as Robbie Ray, Zack Greinke and Jon Lester, they relied upon patience. They exhausted the starters and forced relievers into the game. Against Verlander, that prospect was less likely. He logged 124 pitches in a complete game against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. His leash extends deeper than any other pitcher in this postseason.
"The idea of waiting him out doesn't make sense," manager Dave Roberts said before the game. "He's going to attack. We have to match that intensity, and that idea, as well."
Verlander offered a stylistic contrast to Rich Hill. Verlander pitched like a brute, pumping 98-mph fastballs at the outset. Hill teetered in search of balance, with seven of his first 11 pitches missing the strike zone, before locating his release point. Hill struck out three in the first two innings. Verlander struck out four.
Hill flinched first. It started with a fielding gaffe by Chase Utley, the 38-year-old second baseman. Utley ranged to his left to secure a grounder off the bat of former Dodger Josh Reddick. The baseball slipped out of his glove, and Reddick received credit for a single.
A bunt by Verlander brought Reddick to second. A single by Springer sent him to third. Reddick scored on another single, this one by Bregman, but the Dodgers benefited from a fortuitous bounce. Taylor dove to catch Bregman's hit, which landed a few feet in front of him. The baseball deflected off the bill of Taylor's cap toward left fielder Pederson, instead of spraying toward the wall.
Hill salvaged the inning by striking out second baseman Jose Altuve and Correa. An inning later, he picked up two more strikeouts. Yet with the Astros batting order due up for a third time, Roberts opted for his bullpen. Kenta Maeda replaced Hill in the fifth.
Before Maeda arrived, Verlander allowed his first base runner. Taylor opened the bottom of the fourth with an eight-pitch walk. He did not remain on base for long. Seager bounced a curveball into a fielder's choice. Justin Turner tapped a 91-mph slider into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play.
Heading into the fifth, Verlander had still not bent. He spun a curveball past Cody Bellinger for a strikeout. Puig managed a soft grounder off a 98-mph fastball. There were two outs when Pederson came to the plate.
Pederson had not homered in a game since July 26. The Dodgers demoted him to the minors in August. They banished him to the bench in September. He did not make the roster for the first round of the playoffs. An injury to Seager activated him for the second round. The unrelenting futility of Granderson kept Pederson in the mix for the World Series.
Roberts chose Pederson to start in left field over Andre Ethier because the manager felt Pederson could handle Verlander's fastball velocity. It was a slider that ended the no-hit bid. The pitch fluttered over the plate at 88 mph. Pederson swatted it just beyond the right-field fence. He skipped around the bases, stomped on the plate and pointed skyward. Pederson waved his arms to hype up the crowd before disappearing in a crush of teammates inside the dugout.
In the sixth, the Dodgers mirrored a sequence from the previous night. Taylor took a two-out walk, just as he did on Tuesday against Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel. Turner had followed with a go-ahead blast. This time, Seager stepped into the spotlight.
Seager had struck out in his first at-bat. His grounder deflated the rally in the fourth. Now Verlander challenged him with 96-mph smoke at the top of the zone. Seager fouled the pitch off. He took another fastball for a strike. After Verlander missed inside, he fired a 97-mph fastball on the outer edge of the plate. Seager was ready.
Upon contact, Seager screamed. He unleashed another yell when the baseball crested over the wall in left. In the dugout, Clayton Kershaw lifted his arms and howled with delight. The joy would not last.
