World Series Game 4: Five key moments from the Dodgers 6-2 win

The Los Angeles Dodgers have guaranteed themselves a return trip home. With their 6-2 win against the Houston Astros in World Series Game 4, the Dodgers evened up the series at 2-2.

Not many people were expecting the pitcher’s duel we got on Saturday night. Dodgers starter Alex Wood was making only his second appearance in 32 days, but didn’t show much rust. His command was spotty early on, but the Astros couldn’t take advantage, managing just one hit over 5 2/3 innings.

As for Astros starter Charlie Morton, he started the postseason allowing nine total runs in his first two starts. He’s since bounced back with consecutive gems. In Game 4, he allowed one run on three hits over his 6 1/3 innings.

In a game this tightly contested, it often comes down to one or two hits. For the Dodgers, the two biggest belonged to the player they needed to have step up the most. Rookie Cody Bellinger started the series hitless in his first 13 at-bats before breaking through with a pair of doubles that may have tipped the scales back in the Dodgers favor.

The doubles definitely gave Los Angeles the edge in Game 4, but they weren’t the only big moments. Here’s a look back at the top five.

CODY BELLINGER BREAKS THE TIE WITH NINTH-INNING DOUBLE

For 13 at-bats in this series, Cody Bellinger looked lost at the plate. Eight of those at-bats resulted in strikeouts, and just about all of them featured an awkward swing that indicated he was nowhere close to snapping out of it. Fortunately for the Dodgers, the eye-test wasn’t predictive of future results. In the ninth inning especially, Bellinger put one of his patented beautiful swings on a Ken Giles pitch and drove it the other way for a go-ahead run. It was, to this point, the Dodgers biggest hit in the series. And it could be a sign the Dodgers most dangerous hitter is back.

CODY BELLINGER BREAKS HIS SLUMP, LOGAN FORSYTHE BRINGS HIM HOME

The relief was clearly visible. After breaking his 0-for-13 slump in the World Series with a ringing double in the seventh, Bellinger couldn’t help but exhale and clap his hands in mini-celebration at second base. His big knock put the Dodgers in position to tie the game, and two batters later they would do just that on Logan Forsythe’s clutch two-out single. Just that quick, the Dodgers had life again.

JOC PEDERSON WITH THE DAGGER

Given how this season has played out, a two-run lead in the ninth didn’t seem as secure as it usually would even with Kenley Jansen coming to the hill. Joc Pederson took care of that, capping a five-run ninth inning with a massive two-out, three-run homer. The big fly was Pederson’s second of the series and continued making manager Dave Roberts look good for sticking with him.

GEORGE SPRINGER OPENS THE SCORING

For 5 2/3 innings, the Astros couldn’t solve Dodgers starter Alex Wood. That changed with one big swing from George Springer. The Astros center fielder launched his second home run of the series to open the scoring. Unfortunately for the Astros, it remained their only hit until Alex Bregman’s two-out homer in the ninth inning.

ALEX BREGMAN GETS ANOTHER KEY OUT AT HOME

The game’s first real scoring chance didn’t come until the top of the sixth inning. Austin Barnes reached on a hit-by-pitch to start the inning, then advanced to third on Enrique Hernandez’s one-out single. The last 90 feet wouldn’t come so easily. In fact, they wouldn’t come at all after Astros third baseman Alex Bregman recorded his second huge home plate assist during the postseason. The first came in Game 7 of the ALCS when Bregman squeezed in a perfect throw to cut down Greg Bird. This was slightly less dramatic, if only because the Astros’ season wasn’t on the line. But it was still a big moment in a tight game.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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