Allen Kee/ESPN Images(LOS ANGELES) — There will be a Game 7 at Dodger Stadium Wednesday night. The Houston Astros were unable to close out the World Series, falling to the Dodgers 3-1 in Game 6.
The Astros got off to a good start, starting the scoring in the top of the third inning when George Springer took L.A. starter Alex Wood deep to give Houston a 1-0 lead. It was the third straight game in which Springer hit a home run, and the fourth time in the World Series.
In the bottom of the fifth, Hill was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs for Brandon Morrow, who was able to get Game 5 hero Alex Bregman to ground out and end the inning, which kept the Dodger deficit at one.
Houston starter Justin Verlander looked to be as unhittable as he’d been all postseason, limiting the Dodgers to just one hit through six innings. That is until the bottom of the sixth, when Austin Barnes led off the inning with a single and Verlander hit Chase Utley with a pitch to put two men on with no outs. The next batter was Chris Taylor, who doubled in a run to tie the game at one. Corey Seager followed that up with a sacrifice fly, giving L.A. a 2-1 lead.
Joc Pederson added a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to extend the Dodger lead to 3-1, and the L.A. bullpen did the rest. The Dodger relievers pitched 4.1 innings of shutout ball to force a decisive Game 7 in the Fall classic. Justin Verlander suffered the first loss of his Astros career, while Tony Watson picked up the victory for the Dodgers.
Ten of the last 12 teams that won Game 6 to force a seventh game also won the title, which bodes well for the Dodgers. However, L.A. lost the previous six World Series in which they trailed 3-2 and only one of their six championship victories have come at home back in 1963.
The Astros, meanwhile, are in search of their first World Series championship in franchise history. Houston will send Lance McCullers to the hill, while the Dodgers counter with Yu Darvish for Game 7.
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