Even though numbers alone cannot begin to illustrate what happened in game two of the World Series, here are some that hint at the intensity of the drama that played out in Los Angeles last night.
Eight. As in eight home runs hit by he L.A. Dodgers and Houston Astros, the most ever in a World Series game. Five. As in five of those home runs hit in extra innings, also a record.
98. That's the number of times the Dodgers won a game this season when leading after eight innings. Zero. The number of times they lost when taking a lead into the ninth.
3-1. The lead Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen took into the ninth with his team three outs away from taking a two games to none lead in the series.
0-2. The count on Houston's Marwin Gonzalez when he hit a home run to tie the game at three after the normally lights out Jansen had allowed an RBI single to draw the Astros to within one.
7-6. The final score thanks to Houston's George Springer blasting a two-run home run in the top of the 11th inning, and after Dodgers slugger Yasiel Puig struck out in the bottom of the 11th in a tense at-bat.
Game one was a pitcher's duel and for most of this game two, Justin Verlander for Houston and Rich Hill for L.A. kept it so. Neither pitcher would factor in the decision, but Verlander is still unbeaten in the post season for Houston, and did just enough to keep his team in it, even after the Dodgers built up that seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead. What's amazing is how much happened after the game was tied up in the bottom of the ninth.
In the top half of the 10th, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa hit back to back homers to put the Astros up 5-3 and it looked like that would be the end of it. But the Dodgers refused to yield, scoring twice in the bottom of the 10th on a solo home run by Yasiel Puig and an RBI single by Enrique Hernandez, scoring Logan Forsythe from second after he had walked and taken second on a wild pitch. That set up Springer's dramatic two-run blast in the top of the 11th but even in the bottom of the frame, it appeared the game could last longer when L.A.'s Charlie Culberson hit the eighth home run of the evening to make it 7-6. Dodgers fans were then treated to a tough nine-pitch at-bat by Puig, collectively trying to will his second home run of the game, but Chris Devenski finally struck him out to end it and send the series back to Houston for game three tomorrow night.
The game time temperature was a mere 93 degrees after a 100 degree night in L.A. for game one and it won't be much cooler in Houston tomorrow night for game three , but the best two teams in baseball this year are providing their own heat, and if this sort of thing continues, the 2017 Fall Classic will fully live up to that description.
Locally in women's college soccer, the St. Michael's Purple Knights took a 3-1 loss on the road against regionally ranked Franklin Pierce. Meghan Dieterle scored her second goal of the season for St. Mike's in the loss that drops the team to 3-10-2 overall.
And a game between two schools with nearly identical records yielded a result reflective of that as the Castleton Spartans and Keene State Owls ran to a 1-1 draw when two overtime periods couldn't produce a game-winner. Makenzi Bellando got the Spartans on the board first on the very first shot of the game, less than five minutes in. But the Owls tied the game in the 24th minute on a goal by Taylor Farland. The Spartans improve to 9-7-2 and still have only one loss in conference play. Keene State is 9-7-1.
One game on the NFL slate tonight as the 4-2 Miami Dolphins take on the 3-4 Baltimore Ravens.
