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Los Angeles Times

Sport

Jorge Castillo

Dodgers beat Rays in Game 5, are one win from first World Series title since 1988

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Dustin May works against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning in Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

ARLINGTON, Texas — This is a neutral-site World Series, the first in modern history, played at Globe Life Field, a gleaming new ballpark 1,400 miles from Los Angeles at quarter capacity during a global pandemic. It didn't sound that way in the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 4-2 win in Game 5 on Sunday.

Clayton Kershaw recorded the inning's first two outs with two pitches. He had seemingly discovered a rhythm after a choppy start. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts emerged to take the ball from the future Hall of Famer anyway. Kershaw tried to persuade Roberts to change his mind. Even third baseman Justin Turner spoke up in support of his teammate. Roberts stayed resolute and took the ball.

The pro-Dodgers crowd of 11,437, most with their minds still on the previous night's debacle and years of heartbreak, let Roberts know what they thought. They loudly booed him as Kershaw, peeved, walked off the field after allowing two runs. And they loudly booed him again when he returned to the dugout.

Texas Rangers announcer Chuck Morgan looks out from his booth using binoculars during the eight inning in Game 5 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Roberts didn't bend to the pressure. He wanted to put Dustin May in the game and so he did. It was the first of Roberts' deft decisions.

May responded by striking out Manuel Margot with a 101-mph fastball and retiring the side in order in the seventh.

Roberts replaced May with left-hander Victor Gonzalez with one out after Ji-man Choi, a left-handed hitter, was announced as a pinch-hitter. In response, Rays manager Kevin Cash, whose 28-man roster features 15 position players, opted to pinch-hit Mike Brosseau, a right-handed hitter, for Choi, burning another player to maximize the matchup.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Brosseau walked, bringing up Randy Arozarena, the Rays' best player who earlier collected his 27th hit of the playoffs to set the record for the most in a single postseason. Arozarena lined out on the first pitch. Next, Brandon Lowe flied out to center field to squash the threat.

Roberts made his final bullpen decision before the start of the ninth. Blake Treinen had pitched the previous two days, accumulating 30 pitches in the two outings, but Roberts trusted him to record his first career postseason save.

Margot greeted Treinen with a leadoff single, but the right-hander recovered. He struck out Austin Meadows swinging through a 98-mph four-seam fastball. Joey Wendle flied out. And, for the 27th out, he blew a 98-mph sinker by Willy Adames to pull the Dodgers within a win of their first championship in 32 years.

Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Blake Treinen (49) celebrates after striking out Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Willy Adames (1) for the last out of the game in game five of the World Series at Globe Life Field on Sunday, October 25, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 to take a 3-2 series lead. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

The Dodgers arrived at Globe Life Field having moved on from Saturday's ninth-inning collapse. At least that's what a few of them said on pregame videoconference calls with reporters. Corey Seager maintained the game was flushed from his mind once he went back to the hotel. Will Smith, a central figure in the collapse's final act, called it "heartbreaking," but emphasized a thought the Dodgers have repeated for weeks.

"We're still pretty confident we're the best team in baseball," Smith said, "and we're gonna win this thing."

Roberts, whose stupefied reaction to the implosion was played on a loop for the next 20 hours, claimed to not have watched a replay of the sequence. Living it was clear enough. And he slept just fine — with help.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Austin Barnes, left, is cayght trying to steal second base by Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Willy Adames (1) during the second inning in Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

"Some medication," Roberts said. "I slept like a baby."

Dodgers fans, overwhelming their counterparts more than in any previous game played at this neutral site, serenaded the game's road team with cheers as they walked off the field after batting practice at 5:45 p.m. local time. Then they rained light boos when Roberts' name was announced during pregame introductions. Saturday night's sour taste lingered.

The combination of Mookie Betts and Corey Seager quickly cleansed the palates. Betts led the game off with a 106-mph screamer for a double on the eighth pitch of his at-bat against Tyler Glasnow. Two pitches later, Seager, fresh off a four-hit effort in Game 4, smoked a 102-mph RBI single to right field. Then Seager showcased another dimension of his game.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Victor Gonzalez kneels at the mound after entering the game during the eight inning in Game 5 of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Not the fastest runner, Seager took second base on a wild pitch that didn't bounce too far away from the catcher. Mike Zunino was able to corral the ball and fire a throw to second base for a bang-bang play. Seager was called safe. The Rays challenged the ruling, which was upheld because even the footage didn't offer an obvious answer.

Seager advanced to third base on another wild pitch — the second of the three Glasnow threw in the first three innings to set a World Series record for a game — that didn't ricochet too far from Zunino without a throw. The heady — and risky — baserunning directly produced a run; Cody Bellinger followed with a groundball to second baseman Brandon Lowe, who was positioned in shallow right field as part of a shift. Bellinger reached without a throw. Seager scored easily. The Dodgers led 2-0.

The Dodgers' other damage in the inning was to Glasnow's pitch count. After throwing a career-high 112 pitches in Game 1, Glasnow needed 34 pitches to secure the first three outs. He had never before thrown that many pitches in a major-league inning.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Willy Adames walks away after striking out for the final out of the game as Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Blake Treinen and catcher Austin Barnes celebrate a 4-2 victory in Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Joc Pederson padded the margin by smashing a 428-foot home run into the Rays' bullpen beyond the wall in left-center field.

"They don't want that smoke!" Pederson told his teammates in the joyous dugout.

The Rays, it turned out, had some smoke in response. A two-run third inning began with Kevin Kiermaier's infield single to Kershaw. Two batters later, Yandy Diaz cracked a line drive down the right-field line.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw comes out of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays in the sixth inning during Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Then something strange happened: Betts made a mistake. The right fielder took an aggressive, straight route to the ball but it skipped off the artificial turf before he could stop it. Diaz sprinted for third base and reached because Betts' off-line throw sailed over the cutoff man, forcing third baseman Justin Turner off the bag. Diaz beat Turner in a race to the base for a triple.

Next, Randy Arozarena, unsurprisingly, came through for Tampa Bay with an RBI single to left field to cut the Dodgers' lead to one.

The Rays had runners on the corners with no outs, and they didn't score. Wendle popped out. Adames struck out wildly swinging at a curveball out of the zone. The third out was gifted. Margot took a lead off third base and evaluated the situation. He saw Turner not holding him. He knew Kershaw's delivery was long. He thought Kershaw wouldn't care to even look at him. So he dashed home before Kershaw gathered himself.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (left) comes to the mound to remove pitcher Dustin May (85) during the eight inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Kershaw calmly reacted to the straight steal. He stepped off the mound and tossed an accurate throw home to Austin Barnes, who applied the tag just before Margot touched the plate with a swim move to end the inning.

Margot's shocking aggression, an inch or two from tying the game, stubbed the Rays' momentum. Kershaw retired the side in order in the fifth for his first clean inning of the night. Then he got two outs with two pitches in the sixth to coax Roberts from the Dodgers' dugout for an unpopular decision.

Kershaw waited in the dugout for the inning to conclude. He was one of the first people May saw when he walked into the dugout. Kershaw gave him a fist bump. It all worked out.