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5:20 pm: Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Astros 3-2)
Justin Verlander (RHP, 15-8, 3.36) vs. Rich Hill (LHP, 12-8, 3.32). After one of the most startling and unforgettable non-Diamondbacks games I’ve ever seen, we all needed the travel day off yesterday. Tonight, the focus shifts to Los Angeles, where the Astros can clinch their franchise’s first ever World Series. You probably wouldn’t have guess that to be the case, if you were only told that Game 5 saw the Dodgers score 12 times, in a game started by Clayton Kershaw and finished by Kenley Jansen! I’m sure both sides will be riding their respective starters a little further than usual, since confidence in either bullpen has to be in tatters.
It will be a rematch in both location and starters of that Game 2 last Wednesday, which saw the Astros prevail by a 7-6 margin, in an 11-inning thriller. Verlander and Hill had similar Game Scores (59 vs. 56), albeit in different ways. Verlander delivered a quality start, albeit only at the bare minimum of six innings and three runs; Hill lasted only four innings, despite allowing only one run. If either starter is involved in the decision, I will probably be quite surprised.The Astros will obviously want to finish it off here, rather than roll the dice on a Game 7. I’m right there with them, hoping they can boldly go, where no Houston baseball franchise has gone before.