Trailing the Red Sox 2-0 http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , LA will need the offense to step up if they have any hopes of winning their first World Series in 30 years."The Dodgers trail the Red Sox in the World Series 2-0. After two underwhelming performances, the Dodgers will head to Los Angeles, where they’ll look to begin their quest for four wins in five games. Through two games, LA has managed to plate six runs. When you’re going up against the best offense in baseball, six runs might not even be enough in one game. On Wednesday, the Dodgers only scored two runs on three hits, and were held without a hit for the final 5 1鈦? innings. In the series, the Dodgers are 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. 11 runners have been stranded on base. The opportunities have been there, they’ve just failed to capitalize. The Red Sox on the other hand, have taken advantage of seemingly every opportunity given to them. They’re 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position, with most of their damage coming with two outs. In the 2018 postseason, Boston has scored more than half of their runs with two outs. The problem for LA isn’t necessarily getting runners on base, it’s finding different ways to bring them in. In Game 1, the Dodgers were able to string together three consecutive hits in the third inning, tying the game at two apiece. With only one out, runners stood at first and second. Chris Taylor struck out, followed by a groundout from Matt Kemp. It’s situations like these in which you need to capitalize on the opportunities handed to you. Transition into the fifth. The Dodgers have first and second with nobody out. After a David Freese strikeout, Manny Machado stepped to the plate. A wild-pitch would advance the runners to second and third with one out. Machado grounded out, bringing in the tying run. Yes, a groundout was great because it tied the game, but that was not the at-bat the Dodgers needed. In July, the Dodgers acquired Machado for this very reason, his bat in the World Series. With a chance to give LA a lead, he delivered a tie but that ball would’ve ended the inning if not for the wild pitch. The Dodgers needed a big hit there and they didn’t get it from Machado or Cody Bellinger, who would fly out to end the inning.The Dodgers did their job by chasing Chris Sale after only four innings of work. Unfortunately, they couldn’t exploit the Red Sox bullpen. Yet again, the Dodgers had a golden opportunity when they loaded the bases in the seventh Michael Wacha Jersey , giving Machado another chance to do some damage. He brought in a run on a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to one run. But yet again, it was not the at-bat the Dodgers needed. Prior to Machado, two of the three previous batters had at least three balls in their count, with Yasmani Grandal reaching on a walk. Ryan Brasier had allowed two singles and a walk, and was struggling to find command. Yet, on the first pitch, Machado swung at a 96-mph fastball, and flied out. You can’t really knock Machado for driving in a run, but in such a crucial at-bat, you would have liked him to at least try and see some pitches, and hope for a better result. A base-hit from Machado likely brings in two, ties the game, and puts the Dodgers in a prime opportunity to take the lead. Bellinger had another opportunity but flew out to center to end the inning. Switching things over to game 2. It looked as if LA was ready to blow things wide open in the fourth inning. They had the bases loaded with nobody out. On the first pitch, Kemp flied to center, bringing in a run to tie the game at one a piece. Kik茅 Hernandez followed with a solid nine-pitch-at-bat, but ultimately struck out. Things looked to be turning in the Dodgers’ favor, as Yasiel Puig brought in one with an RBI single. Scoring two runs and taking the lead, it was already a successful inning for the Dodgers. Though, with the Red Sox offense looming, two runs likely wouldn’t cut it for the game. With runners on first and third, LA was in a prime opportunity to tack on some more runs. Austin Barnes stepped up, and struck out on three pitches. For the Dodgers, they wouldn’t have a base runner the rest of the game and have now stranded 87 runners in the playoffs overall.It’s easy to blame big hitters for not breaking tha game wide open but a sizable amount of blame belongs to the bottom half of the order as well. Hitters five through nine in the Dodgers’ order are 2-for-34 in the first two games.Hernadez is 0-for-6 in the World Series and 3-for-32 for the 2018 postseason. The Dodgers didn’thave a hit from center field or second base in Boston.The tough pill to swallow is the fact that the Dodgers could have taken either one of these games, possibly both. The opportunities have been there for the taking, the Dodgers just haven’t stepped up to the task. With the series heading to Los Angeles, the series is far from over. Boston still has to win two more games Ozzie Smith Jersey , and they will be without their best starting pitcher until game 5, giving the Dodgers the perfect chance to get back into the series. As we’ve seen all postseason, the Dodgers have no problem getting runners on base. However, if they have any hopes of coming back, and delivering the city of Los Angeles their first World Series in 30 years, this Dodgers team will need to step up, and show they are a championship caliber team. DETROIT (AP) — Matthew Boyd pitched well on Jack Morris Day, but he was still worried about disappointing one of his idols.“I think he might be mad at me for only pitching six innings,” Boyd joked after the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 Sunday to win the weekend series.The game started 20 minutes late because of the ceremony to retire Morris’ No. 47 jersey. Morris and longtime teammate Alan Trammell were inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this month.“I think it was great for all of our players to be able to watch that ceremony, and we’ll have them out there again in a couple weeks for Tram,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “There was a lot of franchise history on that field.”Boyd (7-10) won for the third time in four starts, giving up one run on two hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out three.Boyd has talked to Morris several times for pitching advice, even though as a finesse lefty, he’s not much like the famed righty.“The theme of every conversation we’ve had is competing,” Boyd said. “Compete on every pitch, don’t get pushed around or intimidated and give your team a chance to win.“It was special to be able to go out there and pitch like that on his day,” he said.Shane Greene pitched the ninth for his 25th save.Kohl Stewart (0-1) took the loss in his major league debut, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings. He started his career with four scoreless innings, but after he got the first out in the fifth, the next five batters reached base.“I was really nervous leading up to the game, but after the first pitch, I thought I settled in,” he said. “I just needed to make a couple more pitches in the fifth inning and keep us in the game.”Twins manager Paul Molitor said Stewart should get at least one more start.“For his first time, I thought he composed himself pretty well,” Molitor said. “He had a little misfortune, but I think he’s very likely to get another chance.”The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the second when Mitch Garver tripled over JaCoby Jones‘ head in center field and scored on Johnny Field’s sacrifice fly.Grayson Greiner, Victor Reyes and Jeimer Candelario hit three straight singles with one out in the fifth to tie the score.Jose Iglesias beat out an infield single on the 10th pitch of his at-bat Albert Pujols Jersey , loading the bases, and Niko Goodrum walked to give the Tigers the lead and end Stewart’s debut.“Iglesias is not a guy who strikes out, so even when you are ahead, he can foul pitches off,” Molitor said. “It was a good battle, and Kohl kept pounding the sinker in there and got a ground ball, but not in a place where we could do anything.”Victor Martinez greeted Taylor Rogers with a sacrifice fly, making it 3-1.Max Kepler led off the eighth with a homer off Joe Jimenez, pulling the Twins within a run, but Ronny Rodriguez made it 4-2 with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning.“That was a huge hit for Ronny,” Gardenhire said. “He hasn’t played in a couple days, and he only came into this game after an injury, but he got us that big insurance run.”TRAINER’S ROOMTwins: LHP Adalberto Mejia (wrist) will have an MRI on Monday in Minnesota to try to determine a recovery plan.Tigers: Jones left the game after the third inning with a right hamstring strain. He injured himself chasing down Garver’s triple in the second inning and was undergoing tests after the game.MORRIS HONOREDMorris became the sixth Tigers player to have his number retired, with Trammell’s No. 3 scheduled for Aug. 26. Detroit has also retired manager Sparky Anderson’s No. 11 and a blank jersey for Ty Cobb.Morris, who won World Series championships for the Tigers (1984) and Twins (1991), finished his speech by thanking both teams.“It is a great honor to have this day in the city where I spent most of my career, and in front of two teams I love. Thank you and go Tigers and Twins,” he said.The Minnesota native will be honored by the Twins on Saturday, also before a game with the Tigers.UP NEXTTwins: Off on Monday before starting a two-game series at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jake Odorizzi (4-7, 4.50) will start Tuesday against Pittsburgh’s Jameson Tallion (9-8, 3.83).Tigers: Start a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox. Artie Lewicki (0-2, 4.76) will pitch for Detroit against Reynaldo Lopez (4-9, 4.30).
