World Series 2020 Game 6: Tampa Bay Rays v Los Angeles Dodgers – live!

10.55pm EDT 22:55

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, bottom 7th

Cody Bellinger skies one in the air for the first out. Smith stays rooted on second.

10.54pm EDT 22:54

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, bottom 7th

Are the Dodgers hitters happy that Snell’s gone? Let’s check and see: Oh, look, Will Smith has hit a double off of Peter Fairbanks.

10.52pm EDT 22:52

I stopped counting after a bit, but the box score tells me that the Dodgers have already used seven pitchers. They’re clearly hoping that extra innings aren’t going to be necessary.

10.49pm EDT 22:49

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, top 7th

Julio Urias is now pitching for the Dodgers. Meanwhile, for the Rays, Game 4 Hero Phillips is here in the game as a pinch-runner and Yandy Diaz is at the plate. Urias gets Diaz to strike out looking and we’ve hit the Seventh Inning Stretch.

10.48pm EDT 22:48

Email from Carl Taylor

Hi again Hunter,

I can’t help feeling that a more experienced and flexible Manager than Kevin Cash would have left Snell in the game, preventing the Dodger comeback. Snell looked perplexed when his Manager strode out to the mound to lift him from the heat of the action. Can the Dodgers bullpen now hold back the Rays and add to the LA trophy cabinet this year?

It definitely felt like a weird moment, especially since Snell made Mookie look foolish in his last two plate appearances.

10.44pm EDT 22:44

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, top 7th

Brusdar Graterol is in for the Dodgers, quickly getting two outs before Zunino hits a single. The Dodgers have seen enough from him, so they go to the bullpen again.

10.38pm EDT 22:38

And the bumper music is Van Halen’s “Right Now.” I would have gone with something from the David Lee Roth era, but a solid tribute to Eddie none-the-less.

10.36pm EDT 22:36

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, bottom 6th

FOX is showing a replay of Betts out-hustling his way on the basepaths to score on that fielder’s choice (scoring a run and preventing the Rays to record an out in the process). Aaron Loup is in to try to clean up Anderson/Cash’s mess. He gets Muncy to hit a groundball out that *actually* leads to an out and finally ends the inning.

10.32pm EDT 22:32

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, bottom 6th

Turner hits a long flyball out, just barely missing a home run. Cash takes Anderson out. That didn’t work.

10.29pm EDT 22:29

Dodgers take the lead!

Rays 1-2 Dodgers, bottom 6th

Anderson gets Seager to ground out, but Betts had made it to third on that wild pitch so he’s able to score on the fielder’s choice. An epic disaster for the Rays.

Updated at 10.32pm EDT

10.28pm EDT 22:28

Dodgers tie it up!

Rays 1-1 Dodgers, bottom 6th

All Snell had done against Betts this game was strike him out twice. Just throwing that out there. Corey Seager is at the plate. He takes a strike and then Anderson throws a pitch that the catcher can’t recover. Barnes scores on the play! Tied game!

10.25pm EDT 22:25

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 6th

No pressure, Nick Anderson! Here’s Mookie Betts with the game on the line… and hey look Betts hits a 2-0 double! Barnes has to stop on third, but there’s only one out here! Dodgers fans are super-loud now for the first time all game.

10.23pm EDT 22:23

No pressure, but if the Rays blow it here after they’ve taken Snell out at just 73 pitches, Kevin Cash will never, ever, ever live it down. He will be absolutely destroyed.

10.21pm EDT 22:21

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 6th

Austin Barnes is up and he gets a hit! How bad of a hitter is Barnes? Well, him getting a hit here is enough for Kevin Cash to immediately take the ball from Snell despite how dominant he’s been.

10.19pm EDT 22:19

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 6th

Blake Snell is back up. The Dodgers should be looking to make Snell start to work, force Kevin Cash’s hand in making a change. Instead, Pollock pops out on the first pitch which very much does not make any sort of sense.

10.17pm EDT 22:17

Okay, the music bumper person has moved on from the Dead to the Roots, which honestly makes a weird sort of sense.

10.15pm EDT 22:15

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 6th

Here’s Joey Wendle, taking a ball and then two strikes. 1-2. Just trying to protect the plate, he fouls the next pitch off. Still 1-2. Gonzalez throws another pitch close to the ground, trying to get Wendle to chase, which he doesn’t. 2-2. He then takes a mighty hack and, you will never believe this, but he strikes out swinging!

10.11pm EDT 22:11

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 6th

Margot falls behind 0-2 and now Tampa Bay have to start being worried, just one or two more runs could put them in a perfect position to force a Game 7. But their bats have gone cold. Margot fouls another off and then takes ball one. 1-2. Then he takes ball two. 2-2. He swings and misses at the next pitch, that’s the 11th strikeout that the Dodgers pitching staff has accumulated.

10.08pm EDT 22:08

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 6th

Victor Gonzalez is back out there after his one-pitch out last inning. He’s facing Brandon Lowe, who falls behind 0-2. Gonzalez throws a slider-ish type pitch that’s out of the zone. 1-2. The next pitch is in the dirt as well, 2-2. Lowe than reaches for a Gonzalez pitch that was absolutely not where he was expecting it to be. One down.

10.05pm EDT 22:05

I couldn’t place the last Grateful Dead track they played and I feel like I’ve failed you all.

Twitter tells me it was “Franklin’s Tower.”

10.03pm EDT 22:03

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 5th

Chris Taylor, he of the game’s sole Dodgers hit, is up net. He looks at a ball, that’s good, and then a strike, which is less good. 1-1. He takes another, and it’s 2-1. A hitter’s count, which is at least a moral victory considering how Snell’s pitching. Taylor swings at the next offering, comes up with air. 2-2. The next pitch, that’s a ball low. A full count!

And he hits a chopper right back to Snell. That’s five scoreless innings and counting.

9.59pm EDT 21:59

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 5th

Cody Bellinger is up next. He takes a ball and then pops one up foul in the stands. 1-1. He fouls another off. 1-2. He grounds one fair but right to first. Two down. Snell is making this look easy.

9.56pm EDT 21:56

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 5th

Will Smith bunts a Snell offering foul. Well, you gotta try something here. 0-1. He takes a pitch and then flies out for the first out of the inning.

9.53pm EDT 21:53

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 5th

Victor Gonzalez, however, gets his man, as Meadows immediately grounds out to end the inning. We’re halfway through Game Six, assuming that it doesn’t go extra innings

9.50pm EDT 21:50

It’s unfair to say Dave Roberts has been second-guessed this series because, honestly, he’s mostly being first-guessed.

9.48pm EDT 21:48

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 5th

Randy “Raising” Arozarena, who has been the entirety of the offense here so far, gets ahead of Baez 2-1. He takes a called strike that doesn’t really look like a strike to him (or me). 2-2. Arozarena hits a high pitch for a single. That will do it for Baez, it looks like.

9.45pm EDT 21:45

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 5th

Pedro Baez is in the game here now, a bit of a roll of the dice for Dave Roberts. Baez gets Zunino to strike out, so that’s about as good of a start as one could imagine. Choi pops out for the second out of the season, hope you weren’t prepared for a slugfest today.

9.42pm EDT 21:42

Okay,it looks like Snell has been good this series, but what are the experts saying?

Oh.

9.40pm EDT 21:40

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 4th

Let’s see if Max Muncy can get anything going off of Snell. He lays off the first two pitches, a wise move, and then swings and the next two. It’s 2-2 like that. Snell throws a breaking ball at the dirt, one of the few poor pitches of the last few innings, but it doesn’t matter and Muncy joins his teammates in the Strike Out Swinging Club. It’s not very exclusive.

9.37pm EDT 21:37

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 4th

Justin Turner up again and down again. That’s the eighth strikeout. Absolutely ridiculous game that he’s pitching here.

9.34pm EDT 21:34

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 4th

Corey Seager is up here for the Dodgers, he gets Snell to a 2-2 count but he extends himself on a Snell offering to become the seventh strikeout victim of the game for the Dodgers,

9.30pm EDT 21:30

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 4th

Alex Wood gets Kiermaier to strike out swinging. If the Dodgers win this game, and it’s still just a one-run game here, this dominant performance by Wood will not go unnoticed.

9.28pm EDT 21:28

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 4th

Wood immediately gets Wendle to line out on the second pitch he sees. Rays manager Kevin Cash is barely three words into his manager’s interview when that happens. He says that Willy Adames is going to help out his club and soon. Adames strikes out swinging 20 seconds later.

9.26pm EDT 21:26

We’re happy to be with you all. Because the pandemic caused Literally All The Sports to play at the same time, we’ve had to pick and choose our spots. I would have loved to have liveblogged Game 4 but, honestly, I’m not sure I could have had anything coherent to say about that ninth inning besides “WHAT?” or “HOW?”

Updated at 9.35pm EDT

9.24pm EDT 21:24

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 3rd

Snell, as one would imagine, pitches to Betts a tad more carefully than he did the number nine hitter. Betts takes a strike and then two balls. Then Snell throws a fastball right down the middle, Betts would love that one back. 2-2. And Snell gets Mookie to strikeout for the second straight time.

And the bumper music is “Sugar Magnolia.”

9.20pm EDT 21:20

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 3rd

Austin Barnes is up, Taylor still stuck on first. Barnes falls down 0-2 almost instantly and then grounds out to third. It’s an out, but Taylor’s on second now and it’s Mookie

9.17pm EDT 21:17

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 3rd

A.J. Pollock takes a strike and then fouls the next pitch off. He’s down 0-2. He fouls of the next one, staying alive. Snell throws one outside. 1-2. Pollock hammers the next pitch but right at the third baseman for the second out.

9.12pm EDT 21:12

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 3rd

Chris Taylor hits a rocket off of Snell for the first Dodgers hit of Game 6. It feels like there’s been a drought but it’s really just the bottom of the third.

9.11pm EDT 21:11

Okay I’ve gotten confirmation that the last bit of bumper music was Phish, which means I’m now 100% certain a fellow jam band fan is responsible for MLB on Fox’s soundtrack tonight. Maybe some Quicksilver Messenger Service next?

9.09pm EDT 21:09

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 3rd

Margot skies one to centerfield and that’s that. Wood gets a 1-2-3 inning.

9.07pm EDT 21:07

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 3rd

Wood gets Brandon Lowe to ground out and he takes care of it himself. That’s two out in a blink.

9.06pm EDT 21:06

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, top 3rd

Alex Wood is next up in the Dodgers’ Cavalcade of Pitchers. He gets Austin Meadows to strike out swinging.

9.02pm EDT 21:02

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 2nd

Cody Bellinger is up next and he’s down 0-2 almost immediately and then swings at one way out for Snell’s fifth strikeout.

9.01pm EDT 21:01

Rays 1-0 Dodgers, bottom 2nd

Will Smith, who famously hit off of the pitcher also named Will Smith earlier this postseason, is up next. Here he becomes Snell’s fourth strikeout victim. I’m just relieved that I’ve managed to survive that particular at-bat without a really bad Fresh Prince joke.