The 2017 World Series is headed to a Game 7 after the LA Dodgers won Game 6 3-1, handing the Houston Astros their first loss in a game started by ace Justin Verlander.
Coming into the game, the Astros had not lost a game when their mid-season free agent acquisition started a game. Tuesday was a first, and now both teams will play for a title on Wednesday at Dodgers Stadium.
Houston got on the board early with a George Springer solo home run in the third inning but that was all the offense that the Astros could muster on Tuesday.
SPRINGER DINGER! The @astros strike first. #WorldSeries https://t.co/F3ucvgnvWd
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 1, 2017
While Dodgers fans booed manager Dave Roberts for pulling starter Rich Hill after less than five innings of work and just one run allowed, the move paid dividends as his bullpen held the Astros scoreless the rest of the way.
The LA bats got to Verlander in the sixth inning. The first two batters reached on a single and a hit-by-pitch leading to Chris Taylor tying the game on a double to left field.
TAYLOR TIES IT UP! #WorldSeries https://t.co/on7Z09V5GM
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 1, 2017
Verlander limited the damage by getting the next three players out but one of those was a sac fly from Corey Seager that scored Chase Utley.
The Dodgers padded their lead in the seventh inning thanks to a Joc Pederson home run, his third of the World Series.
YUNG JOC GOES POP AGAIN! @Dodgers take the 3-1 lead in the 7th. #WorldSeries https://t.co/xrtSt8KN6x
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 1, 2017
The Astros threatened several more times in the game but failed to drive any more runs home after Springer’s fourth home run of the series. In the fifth inning, Houston had runners on second and third with nobody out and had the bases loaded with two out before the Dodgers escaped that jam.
In the seventh inning, the Astros had runners on first and second with one out but, again, failed to score.
The Dodgers have announced that Yu Darvish will start Game 7 but, as of yet, the Astros have not announced who they will start. It would be Lance McCullers’s turn in the rotation. McCullers won Game 3, throwing 5.1 innings allowing three runs on four hits.
