The Setup:

 

In the most insane baseball game ever played, the Houston Astros grabbed a 3-2 Series lead, and are just one win away from the team’s first World Series title.

 

The raw emotion that’s been purveyed on the field in this Series, is simply incredible. This has served as a reminder of why baseball is such a fun sport to watch.

 

Game 5:

 

Clayton Kershaw vs. Dallas Keuchel Take II

 

When two CY Young pitchers duel each other, there is a certain expectation that runs will be at a premium, so getting them early is, usually, a huge advantage. The Dodgers opened the game with a four-run lead and, with Clayton Kershaw on the mound, it should have been more than enough to take the Series back to L.A., with the Dodgers one win away from a championship.

 

But, if we have learned anything from this Series, it has been to expect the unexpected.

 

Dallas Keuchel, after allowing three earned runs, left the game with 86 pitches in the fourth.

 

The Astros swung their way back into the game with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by Yuleski Gurriel’s monster three-run blast, which ultimately tied the game.

 

The Dodgers would quickly answer, with Cody Bellinger launching a three-run shot to put the Dodgers up again, 7-4 in the top of the fifth.

 

In the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Astros worked two walks against Kershaw, ending his night. Kenta Maeda entered the game, following Kershaw’s departure, and was forced to pitch to Jose Altuve. With a full count, Altuve, the front-runner for American League MVP, hit a game-tying three run homerun.

 

Absolute madness already, and it wasn’t even the sixth inning.

 

Are you still with me?

 

In the top of the seventh, Bellinger tripled for the Dodgers, to bring home a run – which happened because of a George Springer misplay in centerfield – a decisive error in such a close game, or so we thought.

 

Down 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh, the Astros and Springer got their revenge. On the first pitch he saw from Branden Morrow, Springer obliterated the ball into the left field stands, to tie the game back up at eight.

 

This was the first playoff game in MLB history where one team hit three game-tying home runs.

 

The Astros weren’t finished with Morrow, who ended up allowing four runs. Altuve had an RBI double and Carlos Correa launched a two-run shot. Six pitches in, and it was clear that Morrow was gassed from the heavy workload he has undertaken in the postseason.

 

In the eighth, the Dodgers got one back, making it 11-9. The Astros retaliated with one themselves – making it 12-9 heading into the top of the ninth – and it didn’t end there.

 

Yasiel Puig, who has had a somewhat quiet Series, belted a two-out, two-strike pitch into the stands, and Chris Taylor tallied an RBI single, tying the game at 12.

 

The game would remain tied into the bottom of the tenth inning.

 

Dodgers’ closer Kenley Jansen, who recently received the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award for the second consecutive season, would get two quick outs. Then, he hit Brian McCann with a pitch, and walked Springer.

 

Alex Bregman would take the very next pitch to left field, on an RBI single that scored pinch-runner Derek Fisher – ballgame.

Game Notes:

 

This historic baseball battle was:

• The second highest-scoring game in World Series history*.

  • In Game 4 of the 1993 World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 15-14.

• The highest-scoring extra-inning game in MLB playoff history.

• The second-longest game in World Series history, at five hours and 17 minutes.

  • The longest was a five-hour, 41-minute bout between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros in 2005.

  • Reminder that these two teams set a record for shortest World Series game in 30 years, in Game 1.

 

R.J.’s Game 6 Prediction:

 

The Dodgers win 5-3. I think this series goes to 7 games. It’s just destiny at this point.