Facts and Figures, Game Four

Ask me to rate last night’s 8-7 win by the Rays over the Dodgers, and I’d give it somewhere between a B and a B+. The last play, with the Rays scoring two runs— Randy Arozarena scoring the winning run from first base despite doing a literal cartwheel between third and home—was definitely exciting if not exactly textbook baseball. I mean, center fielder Chris Taylor booted Brett Phillips’ two-out single to get Arozarena started, and catcher Will Smith dropped a relay throw that would’ve had Arozarena out at the plate by, oh, two to three miles at least. But, yes, it was exciting. You know what comes next, the totals. Both teams combined for 25 his, nine walks and 20 strikeouts, 14 by the Rays; those 20 k’s came at the cost of six homers. Both teams used 13 pitchers, with the real question being, why did LA manager Dave Roberts go with Kenley Jansen to close it? I suspect Roberts chose loyalty over performance. All sorts of numbers indicate Jansen’s days as a shutdown closer are done. And, now you know what comes next, a trip in the old time machine, this time to game six of the 1977 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers, won by New York, 8-4; this was the game where Reggie Jackson hit his three homeruns. The game featured 17 hits, four walks and 11 strikeouts to go with a combined five homers. The Dodgers used four pitchers while the Yankees let Mike Torrez go the distance. Back in the day, giving up four runs, two earned, was not a mark of dishonor. Allow me two final figures, relating to time of game. Last night’s game took 4:10, the game 43 years ago 2:18. Do with that what you will.