Los Angeles Dodgers beat Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 in Game 3 and Leads World Series 2-1.Walker Buehler tossed 6 innings gem to put Dodgers just two wins away from winning World Series. Mookie Betts once again proved why he is best in this league with 2 stolen bases & 2-hits.
Buehler coolly and calmly struck out 10 Rays batters in Game 3, recording the first-double digit strikeout performance of his esteemed postseason career and protecting the early lead provided to him in a 6–2 win.
The Rays swung and missed at Buehler’s fastball 12 times and watched another 11 go by for called strikes. Buehler allowed one run in his six innings, which is one more than he allowed in his last start against the Braves when Barnes helped him maneuver around a bases-loaded, no-out jam.
But this appearance was more overpowering. There was no such threat to work around. Buehler didn’t allow his first hit until the fifth inning, and there would only be three against him on the night.
Only two Major League pitchers since 2011 have fired at least 10 strikeouts while allowing one or no runs in a World Series game. Clayton Kershaw was the first with his 11-strikeout performance in Game 1 of the 2017 World Series. On Friday, Buehler became the second.
The veteran Dodgers from the 2017 World Series would remember Friday night’s opposing starter well. Three years ago, then-Houston pitcher Charlie Morton held the Dodgers to two runs in 10 1/3 innings over two World Series starts. He was on the mound in a Rays uniform in Game 3, this time with far less success.
Morton had allowed two earned runs in his last five playoff starts combined entering Friday. He hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a start since his 2020 season debut. In Game 3, the Dodgers tagged him for five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
It began with the 11th career postseason home run for Justin Turner, who had no issue powering away with the roof closed at Globe Life Field. Turner, who also doubled in the win, is now first or tied for first in Dodger postseason history in homers (11), doubles (18), hits (75) and RBI (40).
Turner, Max Muncy and Betts each had two hits. Muncy knocked in two runs and Betts had an RBI single and two steals, joining Davey Lopes as the only players in franchise history to record at least two stolen bases in multiple Dodger playoff games. Mookie Betts is the 1st player since 1972 and 5th player ever to have multiple games in the WorldSeries with 2+ hits & 2+ SB.
The quick-striking Dodger offense gave Buehler a lead to work with before he ever took the mound. Each of the Dodgers first three runs of the game came with two outs. By night’s end, they’d scored their 50th two-out run of the postseason. No other team has more than 28.
As Barnes helped Buehler maneuver the Rays lineup, he gave his pitcher help with his bat as well. First, it was on a ball that went an estimated four feet, as his safety squeeze brought in a run. Then, it was on a ball that went an estimated 425 feet, hitting his second career postseason homer to finish the Dodger scoring in the sixth.
That would be plenty for Buehler and the Dodger pitchers to follow, who allowed a combined four hits and two runs on the night. Rays rookie sensation Randy Arozarena hit a monster Home Run in the bottom of 9th inning to equal MLB postseason record of 8 Home Runs in a single postseason. He joins an elite group of Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltran & Barry Bonds and he has four-more games left in this series if not two to overtake them.
