Game 4: The Best of Baseball
The first three games of the 2020 World Series didn't offer much in terms of late-game excitement. The Dodgers took Game 1 with a decisive 8-3 victory, the Rays pulled off a 6-4 Game 2 win that saw only a single run scored in the last three innings, and the dominant Dodgers' offense overwhelmed the Rays in Game 3 to cruise to a 6-2 Los Angeles triumph.
With the Dodgers' collection of star power up and down the lineup, many worried they would run away with the series and close it out in a five-game gentleman's sweep. Game 4, in all its ridiculous beauty, made sure that didn't happen. In the process, we were treated to one of the best World Series games in recent memory.
Last week, I wrote about how postseason baseball always finds a way to force little-known players into key situations. In the NLCS, it was A.J. Minter thriving under the spotlightand in this World Series' biggest moment yet a hero was made out of Brett Phillips. Meanwhile, Kenley Jansen found himself playing the scapegoat once more and Randy Arozarena escaped any mention of his nearly disastrous trip around the bases.
For all this and more, Game 4 was simply baseball at its best.
When Kevin Kiermaier blasted a pitch into the right-field stands to tie the game in the 7th inning, it was beyond clear that this game would not follow in the mundane footsteps of Games 1-3.
🚨 We have an all time World Series game folks 🚨pic.twitter.com/iwn3eMF8wn-- Baseball. FYI (@baseballFYI)October 25, 2020
🚨 We have an all time World Series game folks 🚨pic.twitter.com/iwn3eMF8wn
Both team's offenses just kept coming. Runs scored in every single inning except the second, and both teams scored in three consecutive frames totaling nine runs between the 5th and 7th. Pitcher's duels be damned, this was an exciting competition to watch.
But just when Game 4 looked to be destined for extra innings, the Dodgers' offense reminded everyone how ruthlessly relentless they are. Before the Rays had a moment to take a breath, Chris Taylor started the 8th inning with a double to center field. Suddenly, all the pressure was back on Tampa Bay.
After two quick outs, Corey Seager stepped into the box. If it appears the Dodgers have a dark magic deal with the devil, you may be onto something. This 2020 Los Angeles team holds the record for most postseason runs scored with two outs AND most postseason runs scored with two strikes. Just when a pitcher thinks they have 'em, Dodgers are suddenly are crossing home plate and they find themselves on the bench.
With the black magic fully loaded into his bat, Corey Seager dropped a perfectly placed bloop single into left-center field and Taylor sprinted in for the score. The Rays momentum was shattered and the Dodgers found themselves in a perfect place to secure victory.
Corey Seager with a two out flare shot.#Dodgerslead 7-6 in the 8th. This game's giving me a heart attack.#LATogether#WorldSeriespic.twitter.com/4cLQmiTfDa-- Justin Groc (@jgroc)October 25, 2020
Corey Seager with a two out flare shot.#Dodgerslead 7-6 in the 8th. This game's giving me a heart attack.#LATogether#WorldSeriespic.twitter.com/4cLQmiTfDa
After a promising bottom of the 8th failed to produce a run for the Rays, it seemed like hope was lost for Tampa Bay. The thought of a 3-1 series deficit against the Dodgers felt so insurmountable and overwhelming. Across the country, fingers were crossed and prayers were sent up from real Rays fans and those who simply love an underdog.
The Rays' bullpen performed the important task of holding the Dodgers scoreless in the top of the 9th. Now, the game and what certainly felt like the series hung in the balance. Next came a bottom of the 9th that nobody will soon forget. With the Dodgers taking a 3-2 series lead after last night's game, this may be the defining memory and highlight of the 2020 World Series.
Here is where the story splits into three separate branches:
Kenley Jansen:
Jansen was tasked with closing out the game and holding down a one-run lead. In the past few years, the once-dominant closer has seen his effectiveness wane, and his propensity to blow key saves increase. Dodger fans certainly no longer feel the same sense of stability and confidence they once did in this back of the bullpen piece. A save here could have reversed that sentiment and once again endeared the closer to fans and more importantly, his manager.
That's Kenley Jansen's 4th blown save in the postseason. Only Mariano Rivera (5), Ryan Madson (5) and Armando Benítez (6) have more. The last walk-off loss for the Dodgers in the postseason also came in the World Series (Game 5 in 2017). Alex Bregman hit a single off Jansen.pic.twitter.com/1yUrnmtYjJ-- ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo)October 25, 2020
That's Kenley Jansen's 4th blown save in the postseason. Only Mariano Rivera (5), Ryan Madson (5) and Armando Benítez (6) have more. The last walk-off loss for the Dodgers in the postseason also came in the World Series (Game 5 in 2017). Alex Bregman hit a single off Jansen.pic.twitter.com/1yUrnmtYjJ
While Dodgers fans' hearts may have been in their throats, a quick strikeout of Yoshi Tsutsugo settled nerves across the Los Angeles area. Just as those heartbeats began to go down, Kevin Kiermaier brought them back up with a broken-bat single to shallow center field. The ball dropped mere inches away from the outstretched glove of Kiké Hernandez. This chance play changed everything.
Game of inches.#WorldSeriespic.twitter.com/lmNp64wnQG-- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)October 25, 2020
Game of inches.#WorldSeriespic.twitter.com/lmNp64wnQG
With a runner on first, Jansen got back to work. Facing Joey Wendle, he induced a fly out to left fielder Joc Pederson. Now, the game and a 3-1 series lead was one simple out away. With a few good pitches, Kenley Jansen could turn around the creeping narrative concerning him not being a big-game pitcher and losing his effectiveness.
That much needed final out would come in the form of none other than the red-hot Randy Arozarena.
Randy Arozarena:
The legend of Randy continues to grow. This postseason he has set the record for most home runs by a single player and most hits by a single player (and yes there was an extra round in this year's playoffs but who cares the guy is still spectacular). Add in the fact that Arozarena is a rookie and these mind popping records become that much more impressive.
Stepping into the batter's box as the Rays' last chance, last night's at-bat against Kenley Jansen must not have been far from his (or the closers) mind. In a much less exciting game, Arozarena took Jansen deep in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 6-2 game.
The home run meant little at the time, but its psychological impact could be felt in this key moment. In addition, Randy had already homered earlier in Game 4.
The Dodgers called a meeting on the mound to go over strategy and approach to the game's hottest hitter. A walk-off home run here would be soul-crushing, to say the least. It seems like the choice was made to be very careful with Randy, as Kenley only really gave him two pitches to hit, the first pitch which Randy took and the third pitch he fouled off. Arozarena did expand the zone and go after a 3-2 outside pitch but he fouled it off down the third baseline.
The rest of Jansen's offerings were out of the zone as he tried to get Randy to swing and miss. Unfortunately for him, the locked-in Arozarena wasn't falling for that and drew a huge two-out walk.
Brett Phillips:
With runners on first and second, the Rays turned to Brett Phillips, asking him for, as Joe Buck called it, "the biggest hit of his life." Phillips, a career .202 hitter who was left off the ALCS roster, is not exactly who Rays fans would have liked to be at the plate with a World Series game on the line. As Phillips stated after the game, sometimes it takes all 28 guys to win, and there he was as a final option off the bench.
A guy more known for motivating his teammates than his play on the field was called upon when things mattered most.
He knows who the goat ispic.twitter.com/lYBMZqi93B-- wedeni (@Wed3ni)October 15, 2020
He knows who the goat ispic.twitter.com/lYBMZqi93B
In his first World Series at-bat, Brett Phillips strode into the box with the full weight of the Rays' hopes on his shoulders. The first pitch from Jansen was just inside and Brett didn't take the bait. In a 1-0 count, Jansen offered an up and in cutter that was a borderline call and went as a strike. The 1-1 offering looked to be a bit outside but the ump saw a strike and Brett didn't seem to agree.
Down to his last strike, the role player saw something good to hit. A 92 MPH offering on the inside middle of the zone found Brett's barrel and shot into right-center field. Beating the shift, the ball found a nice open spot and jumped off the grass towards a waiting Chris Taylor.
At this point, the lead was lost. Kevin Kiermaier was already flying towards home and destined to score. But the Rays decided to get aggressive and send the hard-charging Randy Arozarena to the plate as well. In the nerve-wracking rush to get the ball in, Chris Taylor booted the ball (reminding me of Trent Grisham) and things looked good for the Rays. But in a cosmic bundle of errors, Randy Arozerna collapsed rounding third and fell into a full-on barrel roll.
Put this guy Randy Arozarena in the Hall of Fame for literally whatever you want at this pointpic.twitter.com/nPqTtw82A0-- Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_)October 25, 2020
Put this guy Randy Arozarena in the Hall of Fame for literally whatever you want at this pointpic.twitter.com/nPqTtw82A0
All the Dodgers had to do was get the ball to catcher Will Smith and tag out Randy to send this game into extra innings. Taylor made the throw to cut off man Max Muncy who darted it to Smith a bit towards the first baseline. Smith, who clearly had not been looking at Arozarena, didn't realize he fell and assumed it was going to be a close play at the plate. Instead of taking his time to ensure the catch, Smith tried to handle the throw and make a sweeping tag motion all at once.
The ball shot away from his glove and into the home plate umpires foot where it redirected backward. Jansen, the target of so much Dodger fan hatred over the years, failed to backup homeplate and Randy slid into home as the game-winning run.
THE ENDING OF RAYS-DODGERS IN GAME 4:pic.twitter.com/6vMnHGpYdq-- ESPN (@espn)October 25, 2020
THE ENDING OF RAYS-DODGERS IN GAME 4:pic.twitter.com/6vMnHGpYdq
For Kenley Jansen, it was another improbable and borderline impossible blown save. He didn't give up a single hard-hit ball and yet postseason failure still found a way to bite him. Who knows if him backing up home plate would have made any difference, but his defiance of day one baseball fundamentals will haunt him and all Dodgers fans if this World Series doesn't go their way.
For Randy Arozarena, a stumble that could have gone down as an all-time mistake was forgotten within literal seconds and a postseason for the ages just kept rolling on.
For Brett Phillips, a career as a back of the roster grinder got the biggest reward any baseball player could ask for. A postseason moment that will never be forgotten and recognition as a hero on the sports' grandest stage.
Thus is the cruelty and beauty of baseball wrapped up in one single play, inning, and game. The mighty Dodgers took a shot to the chin and a Rays team that seems to never stop, simply didn't.
This view from the end of Game 4 is wild 🤯(via@MLB)pic.twitter.com/E0VHeeCkQM-- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)October 25, 2020
This view from the end of Game 4 is wild 🤯(via@MLB)pic.twitter.com/E0VHeeCkQM