Tampa Bay Rays: Five Takeaways from Game 3 Loss to the Dodgers

A defeat in game three of the World Series sees the Tampa Bay Rays fall behind 2-1.

Dodgers’ starting pitcher Walker Buehler was in excellent form, but Tampa Bay’s offense had another poor night. In an eerily similar manner to game one, the Rays struggled to impose themselves while the Dodgers were at their brash, and belligerent, best.

Charlie Morton was the starting pitcher for the Rays, but he was the shadow of his usual self. Justin Turner homered in the first inning, and Morton could not make amends. In 4.1 IP, he gave up seven hits as well as five runs before being replaced by John Curtiss.

It was the bottom of the fifth inning before the Rays could get a hit. Manuel Margot’s double was scant consolation as the Dodgers had were well on their way to victory at that point.

The one bright moment for the Rays was Randy Arozarena’s 9th inning homer. The rookie scored his eight HR in postseason and 23rd hit to become a record-breaker. If the Rays are to turn around the deficit in the series, Arozarena will need to keep his bat hot.

Picking through the bones of the match, here are five takeaways for Tampa Bay Rays fans.

Need to find a win against Kershaw or Buehler

In two matchups with the Dodgers’ ace starting pitchers, the Rays have been totally dominated. Both Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler pitched six innings, in their respective starts, and gave up a miserly single hit.

Undoubtedly, they are both excellent pitchers, but the Rays have not been close to pressuring them. They have a combined 18 strikeouts as the Rays’ offense is struggling to lay a bat on ball.

If the Rays are going to win the World Series, they will need to find a way to score of one if not both pitchers. They are likely to face Kershaw in game five which could be to close out the series for the Dodgers if the Rays drop game four. That is a worrying prospect based on game one’s outcome.

Choi’s fielding

Apart from the record-breaking Arozarena blast, there was little to celebrate. However, Ji-Man Choi did produce three pieces of fantastic fielding to cheer up even the most miserable of Rays fans.

His first offering came in the first when Willy Adames’ throw was taken by Choi, while doing the splits, to see off Mookie Betts. It was fantastic athleticism from the South Korean.

Two more pieces of athletic fielding turned less than accurate throws into outs; Betts again and Seagar were the astounded runners.

The wayward throws were symptomatic of a bad night at the office for the Rays’ defense apart from the ever-enthusiastic Choi.

Offense needs more hits

Coming into the World Series, Kevin Cash would have been very aware of the hitting ability of the Dodgers. What would not have been foreseen was the Rays’ inability to cope with quality pitching.

After three games the Rays are being out hit by 25 to 20 and outscored 18 runs to 11. Those statistics do not tell the real story as game two would have improved the position.

Before Tampa Bay can think about Kershaw, they must negotiate Julio Urías. That will be no mean feat as the Mexican is pitching at 0.56 ERA in postseason. In his last outing, he closed out the NLCS for the Dodgers. Urías will not be fearing the Rays’ batters who must try to get some base hits early.