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The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 116th World Series Tuesday night after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Julio Urias struck out Willy Adames to end the game and end a 32-year title drought for the Dodgers, who lost two of the last three fall classics before the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
“This is surreal,” said Dodgers catcher Adam Barnes, who caught the last pitch and immediately put the ball in his back pocket. “They have broken our hearts so many times.”
It is the seventh overall World Series title for the Dodgers in 21 appearances. For the Rays, it was their second appearance in the Fall Classic. They fell to 0-2 the entire time.
The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after outfielder Randy Arozarena homered to right field. The lead held until the sixth inning, when Rays starter Blake Snell was retired after a brilliant outing. Snell struck out nine batters in 5.1 innings of work, allowing just two hits. His strikeouts in four innings tied a World Series record set by Sandy Koufax in 1963.
Snell was relieved in the bottom of the sixth after Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes singled to center with one out and the top of the Los Angeles lineup came to the plate with Mookie Betts, Corey Seager and Justin Turner. . Betts doubled to left field, advancing Barnes to third. Barnes then scored on a wild pitch. Seager hit a pick play, which scored Betts and gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, just six outs from a world title.
Photo by Ronald Martinez / Getty Images
The Rays put a runner on base in the seventh, but left him stranded early on.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith doubled to left field to start the bottom of the seventh, and then Joc Pederson was intentionally walked after a two-ball count and no strikes. The Rays came out of the inning, stranding a pair of Dodgers base running backs.
Betts, an outfielder who was traded to the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, hit a home run to center field in the bottom of the eighth to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
The Dodgers, after allowing Arozarena’s home run in the first, held the Rays scoreless for eight innings to close out the title, their first since 1988 when they beat the Oakland Athletics.
Both the Rays and Dodgers finished the game with five hits each.
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell did something Tuesday night that hadn’t been done since the 1963 World Series, when he struck out nine batters during the first four innings.
The great Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers was the last pitcher to strike out nine batters in four innings when he did so during the 1963 World Series. In Game 1 against the New York Yankees, Koufax struck out a total of 15 batters from the Dodgers. Yankees in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win.
The Dodgers went on to sweep the Yankees four games to none in that series. To put that Yankees list in context, here are some of the names the Yankees sent to the plate that season: Elston Howard, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, Bobby Richardson and Joe Pepitone.
For Snell, he faced a solid Dodgers lineup that included (with strikeouts Tuesday) Mookie Betts (2), Corey Seager (2), Justin Turner (2), Max Muncy (1), Will Smith (1) .
The 2020 baseball season was postponed two weeks before it began. With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the country hard in mid-March, Major League Baseball canceled the final two weeks of spring training and indefinitely postponed the season.
This summer, the season resumed, but with no fans in the stadiums and only a 60-game schedule per team. The playoffs were even restricted, as most were played in neutral venues and with limited fans for the World Series.
These are the results of the 2020 World Series:
Game 1: Dodgers 8, Rays 3
Game 2: Rays 6, Dodgers 4
Game 3: Dodgers 6, Rays 2
Game 4: Rays 8, Dodgers 7
Game 5: Dodgers 4, Rays 2
Game 6: Dodgers 3, Rays 1
