Shifting Momentum

The Dodgers did almost everything they could do on Friday to lose but it took 18 innings and the turning of the date for them to finally pick up a win in the 2018 World Series. Here’s a list of things NOT to do when trying to win a World Series game, much less a Championship ring:

• Squander a great pitching performance, the best of all the starters in the series so far, by scoring a measly single run
• Pull your hair out as you watch the supposed closer give up a home run with 4 outs left in the game…oh yeah, he was the reliever brought in to take over from the best starter in the series so far
• Have your first baseman try to field a ball that was hit to the pitcher so that first base is left open…IN THE 13TH INNING
• Watch in horror as the pitcher who made the play proceeds to throw the ball past the second baseman covering first, allowing the visiting team to score

I seriously thought the game was over at that point. It was the 13th and the Dodgers had not shown any ability during the game to score runs. Somehow they did though, and without a solid hit. Max Muncy walked to lead off the 13th and got to 2nd on a pop up by Bellinger who ran Eduardo Nunez into the stands on a foul ball. That set the stage for Yasiel Puig to squeak out a hit to Ian Kinsler at 2nd base who proceeded to throw the ball past first base and into the camera well. Muncy scored and we were all tied up again.

After that it was just a bunch of pretty boring, try to stay awake baseball where neither team did much of anything. Each team knew they were close to losing the game so they kept pushing, and the biggest player of the game in my view had to be Nathan Eovaldi. Even though he was pitching when Muncy scored the tying run in the 13th, it was nowhere near his fault, but he moved on from that crazy inning to post 6 innings of solid pitching, throwing almost 100 pitches.

Sadly for him, it was clear that when he can out to pitch in the 18th, he was running on fumes. While he might have still been able to throw 98 and 99 mph pitches, he had lost command and could not place them where he wanted.

In a year that featured the most walk-off wins ever, the Max Muncy smacked a walk-off home run in the 18th! It was his 8th plate appearance of the game and 3rd against Eovaldi, and as all the pitching analytics have show this season, the 3rd time’s the charm. His home run was not a monster shot, in fact it barely made it over the left center fence, but it gave the Dodgers hope. Rather than being down 0–3 to a dominating Boston team, they’ve turned the tide and held on to their slight home field advantage.

For us West Coasters, I hope this signals a shift in momentum towards the Dodgers.

Sports – West Coast Baseball – Shifting Momentum