The time has finally arrived. After a rough start to a very crazy 2020 Major League Baseball season, we have reached the end of the line. Two teams left standing, for a right to call themselves the best team in the game. One team is a club that has a long, rich history and has been to the top of the mountain multiple times. The other is looking to call themselves champions for the first time ever. The World Series is here, lets not waste any time and get right into it.
This year's fall classic puts the NL West Champions the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the AL East Champion Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa had the best record during the shortened regular season and won the East. They swept the Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, went five to beat the Yankees in the division sears, and closed it out by beating the Astros in seven in the league championship. This marks the 2nd time ever the Rays are in the series, their only other appearance coming in 2008. As for the Dodgers, they finished the regular season with the best record in all of baseball. They swept the Brewers in the Wild Card round and the Padres in the divisional round, before closing it out with a seven game come from behind series win against the Braves. This marks the 21st appearance, and third in the last four years, for the Dodgers in the World Series.
Here are the dates and times for every game in this series:
October 20 Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field 8:08pm
October 21 Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field 8:08pm
October 23 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Tampa Bay Rays Globe Life Field 8:08pm
October 24 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Tampa Bay Rays Globe Life Field 8:08pm
October 25 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Tampa Bay Rays Globe Life Field 8:08pm
October 27 Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field 8:08pm
October 28 Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field 8:08pm
This is going to be an even series between the two best teams in the game. Tampa has been getting clutch hitting from guys at the right time. Ji-Man Choi has gotten a big hit at times in the playoffs, and Randy Arozarena is coming off his MVP performance in the ALCS. There is also a little bit of a guessing game with the Rays lineup depending on how healthy Kevin Kiermaier is going to be because of his hand injury early in the ALCS. What's been backing the Rays a lot of the playoffs has been their pitching staff. Tampa's pen has been good, just as has the starting staff. They have been the backbone of the Rays playoff run this year and have been on the point most of this playoff run. Glasgow and Snell have been great at the top of the Rays rotation and have been pulling the train from the top of the staff.
At the other side, Kershaw and Dustin May have been really coming on as of late. Kershaw is, well, pitching like Kershaw. May has been putting on a show in his rookie season and is impressing a lot of people with how well he's pitched. Oh, and they still have Walker Beuhler throwing well too. And the Dodgers have shown that the pen shouldn't have problems getting the ball to Jansen at the end of the night. When it comes to putting runs on the board, the LA offense is a step or two ahead of what Tampa is putting out there. LA has power a plenty and have a lower strike out rate then what the Rays are doing.
I gotta say that the Rays have been red hot most of the playoffs and are going to put up a fight. Tampa isn't going to go down quite. But they are facing a team that has been rolling in LA. They blew through the first two rounds and stumbled at the start against Atlanta. Once they got their footing back, Los Angeles became a tough team to stop and that's what the Rays have to try and do. That won't be happening here. Tampa has been having an amazing season, but they won't have enough gas left in the tank to overcome the better team.
Pick: Dodgers in 6!
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