Down to their last strike, Tampa Bay Rays have pulled a wild and unlikely 8-7 win over Los Angeles Dodgers out the hat to level the best-of-seven World Series at 2-2.
Up 7-6 in the ninth with two out, the Dodgers looked well on the way to taking a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven series, when Brett Phillips walked up to the plate with two men on base and connected on a line-drive to right for his first career post-season scoring hit.
As Kevin Kiermaier raced across with the tying run, Randy Arozarena stumbled to the turf turning for home and looked about to be tagged out, until a throwing error allowed him to dive for the winning run.
"I'm having a hard time putting my emotions into words," said Phillips. "That's what's special about this team - one goal, everyone coming together to win.
"We don't rely on one guy, it takes everyone. Baseball is fun."
The contest was the type that would have had a sellout crowd on its feet, but with COVID-19 health and safety restrictions in place, only a limited number of fans were allowed inside Globe Life Field at Arlington, Texas, the neutral venue being used for the World Series.
In a game filled with pitching changes and momentum shifts, all seven Dodger runs came in innings with two outs, while home runs accounted for all the Tampa scoring, except Phillips' late heroics.
The Dodgers grabbed the early lead on a pair of two-out solo homers from Justin Turner and Corey Seager, who each had four hits on the night.
Turner, who homered in the first inning of Game Three, again provided the early excitement, taking Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough over the wall in centrefield, becoming the first player to hit first-inning homers in back-to-back World Series games.
Then Seager hammered his eighth home run of the postseason, putting Los Angeles ahead 2-0. Seager would also drive in the Dodgers' last run that put them up 7-6 in the eighth.
The Rays provided most of the fireworks at the plate, with Brandon Lowe slamming a three-run homer in the sixth to put them ahead for the first time 5-4.
Arozarena, Hunter Renfroe and Kiermaier also had solo shots for the Rays in a game that often resembled a home-run derby.
Reuters
