After an off day, the Rays and the Dodgers are back it once again in game six of the World Series.
This is another game that is a must-win for the Rays if they want to extend their season.
The Dodgers lead the Rays three games to two going into game six tonight.
The Dodgers have a chance to win their first World Series since 1988 with a win tonight. The Rays have to win tonight first and then worry about game seven.
The Rays will send their best starting pitcher in the World Series to the mound tonight in Blake Snell. The Dodgers are going to have a bullpen game tonight and will start Tony Gonsolin.
The Rays beat the Dodgers 6-4 in game two of the World Series with Snell getting the win and giving up two runs in four and two-third winnings.
Snell is 2-2 in the post-season with a 3.33 ERA.
The Dodgers bullpen is sub-par. They throw hard but have difficulty with control at times.
The Rays have been able to hit this Dodgers bullpen in the series so far, scoring 14 of their 22 runs off the bullpen.
The Rays have swung the bats better the last two games as Kevin Keirmaier has gotten some clutch hits.
Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena have continued to be tough outs in this series.
Arozarena has set a record for most hits in the post-season and has also set the record for most home runs in a post-season.
The Rays will put out a lineup tonight that has never faced Gonsolin except for Margot and Joey Wendle who are both hitless in one at-bat.
The Rays had some success on Sunday against Kershaw. The Rays were more patient at the plate and were able to work the counts a bit,
As a Rays fan, it is frustrating that the Rays can’t seem to get a call to go their way.
The check swing call always seems to favor the Dodgers. Close plays on the bases are going against the Rays.
It just seems if it is a close call, it will go the Dodgers way. I know it sounds like sour grapes, but I have to call it as I see it and that is how I see it from my chair.
The Dodgers are the best hitting team with two out and two strikes that I have ever seen. I have been watching baseball for 50 plus years and have never seen anything like it.
The Rays should win tonight. The Rays need to continue to be patient at the plate and relax. Don’t swing at bad pitches. Patience at the plate is the key.
This will set the stage for a game seven which would match Charlie Morton against Walker Buehler in a re-match of game three starters.
Go Rays!
Cash’s decision to remove Snell after a productive five innings has resulted in, likely, a defeat and loss of a possible World Series win. I really do t understand Cash’s move. Snell was cruising and, because he gave up a single (the second hit given up), Cash pulled him?!? The replacement pitcher gave up two runs and, in the bottom of the eighth, gave up a home run to Mookie Betts. Very strange decision making.
Why, one might ask, with the World Series on the line, would Adames take three straight strikes with his bat on his shoulder?
Dick, you’re 100% right. Cash removing Snell was one of the worst baseball decisions I have ever seen. It just goes to show how analytics is ruining the game of baseball I’m going to suggest the Rays have a computer as their manager next year and take the human element completely out of it because that’s what’s happened. That decision was a factor in costing the Rays a chance championship
The Rays offense has been an embarrassment in this World Series outside of Margot, Arozarena, and Kiermaier. Too many batters hitting below the Mendoza line.
I wonder if the Rays’ management team reads your (our) comments. While analytics have become an important part of the game, there is still a part that must trust the players to get the job done (see “Mr. Baseball”). Baseball, like most sports, relies on “feel” rather than science and that part of the game was missing tonight. (Feels a lot like the Seahawks loss in the Super Bowl when, instead of running Lynch for two yards out, Pete Carroll opted for a pass over the middle that was intercepted.)
The Rays bullpen was superb during this wired season but faltered in the WS. My thought is that they were overused and that gave the Dodgers a chance to see them more often. Just a thought from someone who has played the game all of his life and has the luxury of second guessing the manager.
I concur, Baseball fans will talk about that head scratching move from Kevin Cash for years to come.. As far as the relievers being overused. I get that none of these guys are Mike Marshall who pitched in 106 games and 208 innings for the Dodgers in relief in 1974, but here are the stats for this years Rays pen. Josh Fleming two and two thirds, Joh Curtiss three and a third, Nick Anderson three innings, Pete Fairbanks four innings, Aaron Loup two and one third innings, Diego Castillo two and two thirds, Ryan Sheriff two innings, Ryan Thompson two and two thirds,Are these guys in the pen that soft?