The law of averages suggested the Los Angeles Dodgers were due to be grounded in some sense during their weekend series against the Houston Astros. However, what’s transpired through the first two games still defies that logic.
Justin Verlander matched a career high and season high with 14 strikeouts, and the Dodgers mustered just one run and four hits in Friday’s loss. They had a mere three hits the following night, which resulted in a 14-0 thumping.
In addition to only allowing seven hits and one run, Astros pitchers have combined for a whopping 28 strikeouts through the first two games. They’ve looked every bit of a favorite to return to the World Series.
Though his team was on the wrong end of a lopsided loss and have dropped two in a row, manager Dave Roberts doesn’t believe the series will have an adverse effect should the Dodgers again meet the Astros in the World Series, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“No. No. We’ve got them [Sunday], and hopefully we get another crack at ‘em, or they get a crack at us in October. So I think that after this, [Sunday] we turn the page on tonight and we have to find a way to salvage this series. Outside of that, you don’t want to get swept. You want to win a baseball game. That’s our only focus. As far as anything more than that, I don’t think we’re thinking that far.”
Although they were coming off a 21-run outburst that set a record at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers were a mere 5-5 heading into the World Series rematch. They’d won three of four games out of the All-Star break before cooling off against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Nonetheless, Los Angeles did enter the weekend set with a modest two-game winning streak in tow. After Sunday they begin a six-game road trip with series against the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies.
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