Author | Daniel Wright |
The World Series is the highest form of competition in Major League Baseball. You play those 162 games a year with a hope of getting to the playoffs. Out of the 30 teams in the MLB, only 10 make it to the postseason and only the best of the best make it into the World Series. This year those two teams were the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers were looking for their eighth World Series title, their first in 29 years, while the Astros were looking for their first ever World Series win after losing to the Chicago White Sox in 2005.
Game 1
Game 1 was played at Dodger Stadium in LA. The top of the first inning was uneventful with three straight outs for the Dodgers. On the first pitch of the bottom of the second, LA’s Chris Taylor hit a bullet to deep left field for a home run. In the top of the 4th, Astros 3rd baseman Alex Bregman put the Astros on the board with a solo homerun to left field. In the bottom of the 6th, the Dodgers’ Justin Turner hit one to deep center field for a two-run homer.
Game 2
Game 2 was played on October 25 at Dodger Stadium. In the third inning, with runners on 1st and 3rd, Alex Bregman hit a fly ball to center field that sent Josh Reddick home to put the Astros up 1-0. In the bottom of the 5th, Dodgers’ outfielder Joc Pederson tied the game with a solo home run over the head of Astros left fielder Marwin Gonzalez. In the bottom of the 6th, Corey Seager hit a two-run home run to put the Dodgers up 3-1, but was countered by a home run from Marwin Gonzalez in the top of the 9th to tie the game 3-3. In the top of the 10th, the Astros hit back-to-back home runs with both 2nd baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Carlos Correa scoring. The Astros were quickly countered, however, with Enrique Hernandez bringing in Logan Forsythe to tie the game 5-5. In the top of the 11th, George Springer hit a two-run homer to put the Astros on top 7-5. In the bottom of the 11th, Charlie Culberson hit a solo home run to bring the Dodgers up one run, but it wasn’t enough. The Astros left LA with the series tie 1-1.
Game 3
Game 3 was played on October 27 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The scoring was started in the bottom of the 2nd by Astros 1st baseman Yuli Gurriel when he hit a solo home run over left field. Later in the inning, outfielder Marwin Gonzalez brought in Josh Reddick on a bullet out to left center. After that, catcher Brian McCann brought in Evan Gattis and sent Gonzalez to 3rd. Then, Alex Bregman hit a fly out to deep center field giving Gonzalez enough time to tag up and score sending the Astros up 4-0. In the bottom of the 5th, Evan Gattis hit a single right in between the pitcher and 3rd baseman and was safe because of an overthrow by Dodgers pitcher Tony Watson. The overthrow allowed not only Gattis to be safe, but it also gave time for Josh Reddick to sprint home and score the Astros’ fifth run. In the top of the 6th, a ground out and a wild pitch allowed two more runs for the Dodgers, giving the game a final score of 5-3 with the Astros leading the series 2-1.
Game 4
Game 4 was played on October 28 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The first run of the game came in the 6th inning from a George Springer solo home run to put the Astros up. But the Dodgers quickly countered with a two-out hit from Logan Forsythe to bring in Cody Bellinger and tie the game 1-1. In the top of the 9th, Cody Bellinger hit a single to bring in Corey Seager and put the Dodgers up 2-1. But the Dodgers weren’t done yet. Joc Pederson hit a three-run homer to give the Dodgers a five run lead. To the disappointment of all Astros fans, the Dodgers’ six runs could not be beaten with the Astros scoring only one run in the 9th.
Game 5
Game 5 was played in Houston on October 29. The scoring was started early by the Dodgers with two runs off of a two-out single from Logan Forsythe. On an attempt to pick off Forsythe at 1st and 2nd, Hernandez sprinted home to increase LA’s lead to 3-0. In the top of the 4th, Austin Barnes singled to bring home Logan Forsythe and to increase the Dodgers’ lead even more. The Astros would not stay quiet. In the bottom of the 4th, George Springer walked, Jose Altuve got a single, and Carlos Correa hit a double to bring Springer home and put the Astros on the board. The next batter, Yuli Gurriel, hit a three run homer to tie the game 4-4. In the top of the 5th, Cody Bellinger countered Gurriel’s home run with one of his own to put the Dodgers back on top with a three-run lead. But again, the Astros will to win tied the game. In the bottom of the 5th, Jose Altuve sent one right to left field to tie the game 7-7. In the top of the 7th, Bellinger doubled to center field and brought home Kike Hernandez in the process, to take the lead once more. On the first pitch of the bottom half of the seventh inning, George Springer homered to tie the game 8-8. After that, Jose Altuve hit the ball into deep center field to bring home Alex Bregman to put the Astros on top. A wild pitch to Correa brought Altuve to third, but the next pitch Correa extended the Astros lead with a two run home run. In the bottom of the 8th, Brian McCann hit yet another home run to put the Astros with a lead of 12-9. In the top of the 9th, Yasiel Puig hit a home run to tie the game 12-12. However, the game ended when Alex Bregman sent a deep ball into the outfield that brought home pinch runner Derek Fisher to when the game and take the series lead 3-2.
Game 6
Game 6 was back in LA, and played on Halloween. In the top of the 3rd, George Springer homered to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but that would be their only run of the night. In the bottom of the 6th, with Dodgers players Austin Barnes and Chase Utley on base and Chris Taylor up to bat. Taylor doubled into right to bring home Barnes and tie the game 1-1. Right after that, Corey Seager hit a sacrifice fly out to bring home Utley and take the lead. In the bottom of the 7th, Joc Pederson hit a homerun to increase the Dodgers lead to 3-1 and win the game.
Game 7
The final game of the 2017 World Series was played in LA on November 1. The Astros spared no time in scoring, notching two in the first inning- one off of an overthrow at first, another on a groundout from Jose Altuve. On a ground out from Lance McCullers Jr., Brian McCann scored, giving the Astros a three-run lead. Right after that, George Springer gave the Astros two more with a two-run homer to right center. In the bottom of the 6th, the Dodgers finally put something on the board scoring a run off of a single by pinch hitter Andre Ethier. The 5-1 score would stand for the rest of the game, with the Astros winning their first ever World Series title.
