Facts and Figures, Game Five

The Dodgers beat the Rays last night by a score of 4-2. Outside of an attempted steal of home by Tampa’s Manuel Margot in the fourth inning, the game was about as interesting as the lead sentence. The two teams combined for 13 hits, nine walks and 18 strikeouts; all that swinging yielded two homeruns, both by Los Angeles. Nine pitchers came and went. If you’re a Dodgers’ fan, the 3:30 it took to win the game might not seem so long. To those of us who don’t necessarily love LA, it dragged, and then some Today’s trip in the time machine isn’t to all that long ago, game five of the 1991 World Series between the Twins and Braves, Atlanta winning by a score of 14-5. Those two teams combined for 24 hits, nine walks and a mere ten strikeouts; oddly enough, all three homers were hit by the losing team. This game also featured nine pitchers, who did their work a good deal faster than their counterparts in 2020. The game clocked in at 2:59. Depending on how much God wants to punish baseball fans, the Series could go to the Dodgers tomorrow night in six games. Or the game could go into extra innings, a taste of an eternity in hell. Or the Rays could win and force a game seven.