Dodger fans don’t have to look too hard to find a World Series game that resembled the way Game 4 of the 2020 World Series ended.
The Dodgers, with a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the ninth
inning, lost to the Tampa Rays, 8-7 on a wild play with two outs to end the
game. Randy Arozarena scored the winning run on a bloop single by pinch-hitter
Brett Phillips. But the play was much messier than that. Dodgers centerfielder
Chris Taylor bobbled the ball. Catcher Austin Barnes dropped the relay throw.
Kenley Jansen didn’t back up home plate. Arozarena stumbled halfway down the
third baseline before recovering and sliding home safely. Mistakes were made. Many, many
mistakes were made. The biggest mistake might have been bringing Jansen into
the game at all. He has not been the most reliable closer for the Dodgers in
recent seasons.
Game 4 of the 2020 World Series reminded Dodger fans of Game
5 of the 2017 World Series. The World Series was tied, 2-2. Clayton Kershaw
started for the Dodgers. The lying, cheating Astros knocked Kershaw out of the
game in the fifth inning, in the middle of one of the craziest World Series
games ever played.
The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and extended
it to 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning.
The Astros tied the score in the bottom of the fourth, 4-4.
The Dodgers took the lead again, 7-4, in the fifth inning, but the Astros
scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, knocked Kershaw out of the
game and tied the score again, 7-7.
With Kershaw out of the game, the Astros took the lead in
the seventh inning. But not before the Dodgers scored a run in the top of the
seventh to take an 8-7 lead.
The Dodgers trailed 12-9 in the ninth inning. Yasiel Puig hit
a two-run home run to cut the lead to one run. Chris Taylor drove in the tying
run with a single. The Dodgers headed into the bottom of the ninth inning with
the score tied, 12-12.
Jansen came in to pitch the ninth inning. Alex Bregman
knocked in the winning run for the Astros with a two-out single. The Astros
went up 3-2 and won the World Series in seven games.
Jansen failed the Dodgers. Kershaw added to his disappointing
World Series legacy. The Astros, it was later revealed, cheated their way
through Game 5 and the entire playoffs by stealing signs, but don’t let that
stand in the way of another embarrassing loss for the Dodgers in the playoffs.
Probably the worst part of the Dodgers loss to the Rays in
Game 4 of the 2020 World Series was that Jansen gave up the game winning hit to
Brett Phillips, probably the worst hitter on the Rays. He hit .196 in 35 regular
season games in 2020. He was 0-for-5 in the playoffs before his bloop single to
center in the ninth inning of Game 4. If the Rays had an easy out on their
roster, Phillips was it.
It wasn’t the first time the worst hitter on a team beat the
Dodgers in the playoffs. In the 1985 National League Championship Series, Ozzie
Smith hit a game-winning home run off Tom Niedenfuer in Game 5. The score was
tied 2-2 in the ninth inning. Smith, who hit 28 home runs in his 19-year
career, won the game with the most unlikely of home runs. The Dodgers ended up losing
to the Cardinals in six games in the 1985 NLCS.
The Dodgers have found ways to lose playoff games in the
most bizarre and painful ways over the years. Game 4 of the 2020 World Series
will go down as another one of those games.
The World Series is tied, 2-2. The Dodgers have Kershaw
starting Game 5. The Rays, as far as anyone knows, haven’t figured out a way to
cheat and steal the signs from the Dodgers. Still, Kershaw has a reputation for
shrinking in big moments in the playoffs. Dodgers fans are hoping this is not
one of those times.
Let’s go Dodgers.
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