In this Reliving History series, we will revisit some of the key games in the 2017 World Series. The Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers put on an entertaining World Series that went the distance and ended with Houston on top. As the world now knows, the Astros participated in an illegal sign-stealing scandal in 2017. Two of Houston’s four Series wins came at Dodger Stadium, but that fact hasn’t stopped Dodger fans and players from being vocal about how they feel on the matter. Speaking of Dodger Stadium, this is where the spectacular Game Two took place.
2017 World Series Game Two Buildup
Game Two between the Astros and the Dodgers was an 11-inning classic. Los Angeles took the series lead in Game One, and Houston needed to even the series. Justin Verlander and Rich Hill were the starting pitchers. Clayton Kershaw dominated Game One, and Hill looked to repeat that effort here in Game Two. Meanwhile, Verlander tried to do what the Astros traded for him to do: deliver a postseason victory.
Astros 7, Dodgers 6
The two teams traded a couple of scoreless innings until the Astros got the scoring started in the third. Josh Reddick reached first on an infield single and advanced to second on a Verlander sac bunt. George Springer singled Reddick to third before Alex Bregman singled him in to score. Los Angeles got on the board with a solo home run by Joc Pederson in the fifth. The very next inning, the Dodgers went ahead on a two-run home run by Corey Seager. The score sat 3-1 in favor of the Dodgers but didn’t stay that way for very long.
Houston inched closer in the eighth with an RBI single by Carlos Correa, making the score 3-2. Late-game heroics became a theme for Houston as Marwin Gonzalez led off the ninth with a game-tying homer off closer Kenley Jansen, only the fifth dinger he gave up all season. This clutch blast tied the game at three and forced extra innings.
Extra Innings
Extra inning games almost guarantee an exciting ending, and this game was no exception. The Astros didn’t waste any time putting a couple of go-ahead runs on the board off new pitcher Josh Fields. Jose Altuve led off the inning with a home run, and Correa immediately followed with a shot of his own. These back-to-back blasts put Houston on top, 5-3. However, the Dodgers weren’t going to go down without a fight. Yasiel Puig led off the 10th with a solo home run, bringing Los Angeles to within a run. After two outs, Logan Forsythe drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The wild pitch came back to bite Houston as Kiké Hernandez hit a game-tying single, forcing an 11th inning.
The 11th proved to be as exciting as the previous inning. Cameron Maybin led off the inning with a single and stole second. The stolen base proved to be unimportant as the future World Series MVP, Springer, hit a two-run homer. This go-ahead shot put Houston up 7-5. It was his first home run of many in this World Series. Once again though, Los Angeles wasn’t going to go down easy. With two outs, Charlie Culberson hit a solo home run to creep closer to Houston. However, that was the only run they scored in the 11th. The final score of this fantastic game ended 7-6 in favor of the Astros.
Houston could have very easily faced a 2-0 deficit, but some late inning heroics evened the series and gave them life. Game Two of the 2017 World Series set the tone for what goes down in history as a fantastic World Series.
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Justin Verlander, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Josh Reddick, George Springer, Alex Bregman, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez, Kenley Jansen, Jose Altuve, Josh Fields, Yasiel Puig, Logan Forsythe, Kiké Hernandez, Cameron Maybin, Charlie Culberson
