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Los Angeles Times

Sport

Jorge Castillo

Dodgers suffer stunning 8-7 walk-off loss to Rays in Game 4 of World Series

Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Peter Fairbanks works during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

ARLINGTON, Texas — The ball left Kenley Jansen's right hand at 92 mph, with movement, over the inside part of the plate to Brett Phillips, a bench player with a .202 career batting average on the Tampa Bay Rays' World Series roster to play defense and run the bases.

It ricocheted off Phillips' bat at 82.8 mph into shallow center field at Globe Life Field, ensuring that the Rays, down to their last out, had at least tied the Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series. Then chaos erupted. The ball bounced off the heel of Chris Taylor's glove, suddenly opening a crack for the Rays. It came down to Randy Arozarena's legs.

Arozarena, the Rays' postseason dynamo, started the play at first base and dashed around third once he saw Taylor's gaffe. Then, three-quarters down the baseline, he tripped. Helmet off, he started retreating to third base — until he saw catcher Will Smith fail to catch a relay throw at the plate. The ball bounced away, far enough to allow Arozarena to reverse course and reverse this series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Julio Urias pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Arozarena slid in headfirst to give the Rays an improbable 8-7 win. He pounded home plate with his right hand as Phillips was chased down by teammates in celebration in left field. The Dodgers around him were left stunned. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts looked on in disbelief over the dugout railing.

The Dodgers were one out from a commanding three-games-to-one series lead with a chance to win their first World Series since 1988 with Clayton Kershaw on the mound in Game 5 on Sunday. Instead, the series is tied at two.

Corey Seager has blasted pitches all over the field all October long, into the gaps and over the wall. Line drive after line drive. He has been the Dodgers' metronome sandwiched between their superstar acquisition and steady leader. Never has the shortstop, finally healthy again, been more locked in.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Corey Seager (5) hits a solo home run off of Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (48) during the third inning in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

But none of those missiles, not any of the eight home runs or any of the four doubles he's produced this postseason, were bigger than the bloop single he muscled in the eighth inning.

The ball traveled 66.3 mph off his bat, but it found a landing spot just over Rays shortstop Willy Adames's outstretched glove in shallow left-center field. By the time Rays left fielder Austin Meadows got to it, Taylor was racing around from second base to give the Dodgers the lead.

The heroics came, fittingly, with two outs. The Dodgers scored all seven of their runs Saturday with two outs, upping their postseason record of two-out runs to 57.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Justin Turner hits a solo home run in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

On the other side, the Rays had scored their first six runs with four home runs over four straight innings. Their feast-or-famine reliance on the home run netted them two solo home runs and a two-run deficit into the sixth inning. They didn't put multiple runners on base at once until then. Blake Treinen gave up a leadoff single to Arozarena — his 26th hit of the postseason to match the all-time record. Mike Brosseau worked a walk. Pinch-hitter Austin Meadows struck out, and Roberts emerged to take the ball from Treinen with Brandon Lowe up next.

Lowe, the Rays' top offensive performer in the regular season, bats left-handed. Roberts went with Pedro Baez, a right-hander with reverse splits. Left-handed hitters were five for 34 against Baez in 2020 before the encounter in large part because of Baez's changeup — his best pitch and an elite weapon against left-handed batters.

Baez threw three changeups to begin the at-bat to get ahead 1-2. But his next two pitches were 95-mph fastballs. Lowe took the first one for a ball. He blasted the second one, on the outside corner, over the wall in left-center field for a go-ahead three-run home run.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias throws against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fourth inning in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Baez retired the next two batters to get out of the inning. Joc Pederson then delivered a two-out, two-run pinch-hit, line-drive single off a diving Lowe's glove in shallow right field to give the Dodgers the edge again.

The lead was temporary. Roberts kept Baez in the game and watched Baez yield a solo home run to Kevin Kiermaier, another left-handed hitter, on a changeup.

The night began with Julio Urias becoming the fourth Mexico-born pitcher to ever start a World Series game, and he was ready for the moment. The left-hander had five strikeouts — all on fastballs — through three innings. He induced 13 whiffs, 12 on fastballs, setting a career high.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash calls for a reliever to replace starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough, second from right, in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Then Arozarena smashed a 95-mph fastball for a leadoff home run in the fourth inning. It was Arozarena's ninth home run of the postseason, breaking a five-way tie for the most ever in a single postseason.

Urias allowed a second solo home run to Hunter Renfroe in the fifth inning before exiting with two outs. He gave up the two runs on four hits. He had nine strikeouts to one walk and threw 80 pitches.

Justin Turner and Seager gave Urias a quick 2-0 lead with solo home runs in the first three innings off left-hander Ryan Yarbrough. Turner's home run was the 12th of his career in the playoffs, passing Duke Snider, whose postseason career was limited to World Series appearances, for most in franchise history.

The Tampa Bay Rays' Randy Arozarena is congratulated on his solo home run by Manuel Margot, right, during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Bu the Dodgers took a hit defensively when they announced a lineup change 1 hour 20 minutes before first pitch: Cody Bellinger, the center fielder in their original lineup, was moved to designated hitter. AJ Pollock, initially the designated hitter, switched to center field.

Roberts said Bellinger's back tightened overnight. He received treatment when he reported to Globe Life Field and swinging the bat wasn't a problem — he took swings at 100% effort in the batting cage. But the back discomfort rendered throwing and moving around difficult. Roberts described Bellinger's status as "day to day."

Bellinger would've been in center field in the ninth inning. But Taylor was there after Pederson delivered a pinch-hit two-out, two-run single in Pollock's place in the seventh inning and stayed in the game to play left field.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough works in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The bullpen door swung open for Jansen, the maligned veteran closer, with the Rays' No. 8 and 9 hitters due up. He struck out pinch-hitter Yoshi Tsutsugo to start the outing before Kiermaier lofted a flare to shallow right field. After Joey Wendle smashed a line drive right at Pederson, Arozarena worked a walk to bring up Phillips.

Phillips had entered the game an inning earlier as a pinch-runner. He was left stranded at second base and stayed in the game to play right field. He had two plate appearances all postseason — none in 18 days. His last hit had come Sept. 25 in the Rays' 58th regular-season game. A month later, he was the Rays' last hope in one of the biggest games in franchise history. He delivered and, after two gaffes, the Rays emerged with an unlikely result.