WORLD SERIES: Cody Bellinger Lifts Dodgers In Game Four, Ties Series

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 28, 2017

Work Series

Cody Bellinger emerged from a deep slump to lead the LA Dodgers to a 6-2 victory over Houston Saturday, tying the series at two games apiece.

Bellinger, who entered the game with an 0-for-11 mark in the series, flied out in the second inning and struck out in the fifth before stroking a key one-out double in the seventh inning with Houston up, 1-0. His first World Series hit proved crucial, as Houston manager A.J. Hinch pulled starter Charlie Morton immediately, replacing him with reliever Will Harris.

Bellinger: 2-4, 2R, RBI

Bellinger, a rookie first baseman who hammered 39 home runs during the regular season, tied the game when he scored on Logon Forsythe's single up the middle after Yasiel Puig flied out for the inning's second out.

Houston's first run had come on the only hit off LA starter, Alex Wood, a sixth inning homer by Houston leadoff hitter, George Springer.

Wood arrived a no-hitter into the sixth as he battled with Houston's Morton, who pitched into the seventh. Neither starter received a decision as the game remained tied into the ninth.

In the Dodgers' ninth, Bellinger delivered again, this time with a double off Houston closer, Ken Giles, plating Corey Saeger from second and sending Justin Turner to third base, giving LA a 2-1 advantage.

Once the Dodgers had the lead, the floodgates opened on Houston's porous relief pitching. Joe Musgrave entered the game for the Astros with none out and runners on second and third, fanning Puig for the first out, but, after an intentional walk to Forsythe, Austin Barnes sent another run home on a sac fly before Joc Pederson put the game away with a three-run homer into the right field stands.

With a 6-1 lead, Dodger manager made another in a series of questionable calls, bringing in closer, Kenley Jansen, even though it was not a save opportunity. Jansen threw just 14 pitches, one of which was a 1-2 slider to Alex Bregman, who stroked a solo home run over the wall in left with two outs in the ninth. Jansen finished up by getting Jose Altuve to fly to center, but the use of the team's most reliable reliever in such a situation was considered unusual.

With the win in hand, the tied series resumes for the third straight game in Houston, 8:09 pm on Sunday. The pitching matchup is a repeat of game one starters, with Dallas Keutchel going for Houston and Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers.