[Simulated Results]
Baseball Classics World Series Game 1
Rays at Dodgers
The lineup submitted by the Rays attempted to insert some power while sacrificing fielding. Meanwhile, the Dodgers fielded their usual starters. Find out if the move by Tampa propelled them to a win or cost them with the glove!
Play Ball!
Kershaw came out sharp whiffing all 3 batters including a caught looking in the top of the 1st. Like Kershaw, the Dodgers lineup came out ready to strike! Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk followed by a scorching 2-bagger by Corey Seager. Betts raced around home and scored as Tampa attempted to throw him out, but the ball was cut off and nailed Seager trying to take 3rd!
End of 1, Dodgers 1, Rays 0
The lead would not last long as clean-up hitter Hunter Renfroe hit a deep drive off Kershaw to tie the score at 1! With one out Wendle hit a single, but was forced out and Kiermaier struck out to end the Rays half of the 2nd.
End of 2, Tied at 1
Tyler Glasnow settled down and was mowing down Dodgers. Good hitters such as Turner, Muncy, Will Smith, Taylor, Betts and Seager all fell victim to either called strike 3 or taking a big cut and missing. Though when LA catcher Austin Barnes took his second look at Glasnow in the bottom of the 5th with two out and nobody on, he tagged one over the wall to put the Dodgers back on top!
End of 5, Dodgers 2, Rays 1
Clayton Kershaw put it in cruise control mode through 7 strong innings while clinging to their slim 1 run lead. Then the game suddenly turned in the home half of the 7th. Glasnow lost Chris Taylor on a full count with a walk to start things off. He was pulled in favor of Fairbanks out of the bullpen. He promptly got powerhouse Job Pederson to hit a ground ball to 2nd baseman Brandon Lowe, but he booted it for the second error of the game for Tampa. Barnes singled to load the bases for Betts. However, a wild pitch brought in the 3rd Dodger run. After that Betts laid into a 2-1 pitch he smoked for a 3-run shot!
After 7 innings, 6-1 Dodgers
Moving to the Dodgers 6th inning, Sale gave up a lead-off single to Barnes. Though after that both Dozier and Turner were strikeout victims. Sale stayed in the face Freese and gave up his 3rd straight Single to him to bring up the tying run. Right-hander Kelly came in to relieve Sale and face the righty Machado, but lost him to a walk. With the bases loaded and Chris Taylor due up, LA pinch hit with lefty Max Muncy. Boston responded by bringing in the lefty Johnson. The stage was set. Muncy was over powered and struck out to leave the bases loaded!
After retiring the 9th hitter in the Rays lineup, Kershaw was relieved by the combo of Floro and Jansen closing it out for a convincing 2020 World Series Game 1 winner!
Final Score: Dodgers 6, Rays 1
How it Was Played
We used Baseball Classics 2020 MLB Season Premium Edition Player Cards with Real-Time Pitching, team fielding, and Scorefield game board. It took 71 minutes to complete this World Series Game 1 showdown. This game included 5 pitching changes.
[Simulated Results]
Baseball Classics World Series Game 2
Rays at Dodgers
The lineup submitted by the Rays had to remain balanced since the plan for LA was to let Gonsolin pitch only a few innings then turn to their bullpen. Meanwhile, the Dodgers fielded their usual starters but subbed in the clutch right-handed Kike Hernandez in place of the lefty Joc Pederson. Find out if the Rays could even up the series or if Los Angeles inserted their domination again!
Play Ball!
The game started close with both starters in control. Gonsolin worked around a 2 out single by the rookie sensation Randy Arozarena, to keep the Rays off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the first, Mookie Betts drew a dreaded lead off walk but was thrown out at 2nd during his steal attempt.
End of 1, Rays 0 , Dodgers 0
Both teams scored their first runs in the 2nd inning and each added more in the 3rd. Tampa drew first blood by as Manuel Margot laced a lead off double into the right-center gap. Gonsolin proceeded to give up a single to Adames and then the 9th place batter, catcher Mike Zunino struck his own single up the middle for a 2 out RBI, scoring Margot. However, Los Angeles responded quickly as the red hot Cody Bellinger hit a single to left. Next up, AJ Pollock smashed the first homer of the game and just like that LA was up 2-1.
In the top of the 3rd, the Rays again started with a lead off two-bagger, this time by the previously struggling Brandon Lowe. Margot followed up his previous at bat with another hit, this time a single to drive in the runner. Gonsolin was able to put out the rally with back to back K’s of Wendle and Adames. But the Dodgers were ready to respond again and it was Max Muncy who hit a solo shot off Snell to help his team retake the lead!
End of 3, Rays 2, Dodgers 3
In the top of the 4th LA turned to Luis Urias after Gonsolin gave them three solid innings of work. He kept the Rays off balance and for the next three innings of his own he did not allow Tampa to score.
In the bottom of the 5th, Los Angeles flexed their power muscles again. After Mookie Betts drew another lead off walk, (his second of a total of 3 walks he’d take) Max Muncy did it again, this time crushing a 2-out, 2-run home run to start to distance LA from Tampa.
End of 5, Rays 2, Dodgers 5
After Urias shut down the Rays for 3 innings, Dave Roberts turned to the electric Brusdar Graterol to keep the Rays from catching up. He did his job pitching 2 scoreless innings while striking out 2. In the bottom of the 7th the Dodgers scored again, this time it was Diego Castillo offering up a lead off gopher ball to Corey Seager. With LA starting to distance themselves Rays’ manager Kevin Cash brought in one of his righty flamethrowers Nick Anderson. After getting Turner and Muncy to groundout, Will Smith launched his own solo shot and the second home run of the inning!
After 7 innings, 7-2 Dodgers
The Rays had no answer on offense or defense as they could not figure out a way to score another run. In the bottom of the 8th the game got out of hand. Nick Anderson loaded the bases on two walks and a single. With the lefty Corey Seager due up, the Rays turned to fellow southpaw Josh Fleming who gave up a crushing Grand Slam to Seager, cementing the Dodgers’ win!
Final Score: Dodgers 12, Rays 2
How it Was Played
We used Baseball Classics 2020 MLB Season Premium Edition Player Cards with Real-Time Pitching, team fielding, and Scorefield game board. It took about 80 minutes to complete this World Series Game 2 matchup. This game included 6 pitching changes and 3 pinch hitters.
[Simulated Results]
Baseball Classics World Series Game 3
Dodgers at Rays
Differing from Game 1, this time the Rays fielded a strong defensive lineup in hopes to leverage the fundamentals to defeat the powerhouse LA lineup. No surprises in the Dodger lineup, they are sticking with their usual crew.
Play Ball!
Morton was greeted with back-to-back leadoff singles by Betts and Seager. Next he enticed Turner to flyout and caught Muncy looking for strike 3 and ended the top half of the 1st inning with Will Smith grounding out. Buehler fanned Lowe and Arozarena to easily end the inning.
End of 1, No score
Bellinger was caught looking on an 0-2 pitch to start things in the Dodgers 2nd, but Chris Taylor laced a Triple and was driven in by Pederson to put LA ahead 1-0. The Dodgers loaded the bases, but Morton wiggled out of it. In the 3rd inning, Muncy lead off with a single on the first pitch and raced to 3rd on another single by his teammate Will Smith. That turned out to be important as Bellinger hit a deep sacrifice flyout to drive in Muncy who waltzed in after tagging up. The Rays were nine up, nine down through 3.
End of 3, Dodgers 2, Rays 0
Morton was replaced heading into the 4th inning by Yarbrough. Moving ahead to the top of the 5th, with 1 out, Taylor and Pederson singled, and Barnes walked. A wild pitch scored Taylor (his second run of the game) before the rally ended giving the Dodgers a 3-run lead. The Rays didn’t pick up their first hit until the bottom of the 5th, a leadoff double by Choi. However, he was left stranded at 3rd to end the 5th.
End of 5, Dodgers 3, Rays 0
Buehler was mowing down Rays striking out at least 1 batter in every inning heading into the bottom of the 9th. He fanned Lowe leading off the bottom of the 9th by catching him looking. Though it looked he may go the distance with 2 outs to go and racking up a remarkable 17 Rays batters, Jansen was warming up just in case. Arozarena roped a single as did Choi to bring the tying run to the plate! Jansen was indeed brought in to face Manuel Margot.
Margot hit a sharp single and the Rays held Arozarena to be safe. With the bases loaded, left-handed batter Joey Wendle had a favorable match-up versus the righty Jansen. Wendle hit a flyball that wasn’t deep enough to bring in the runner from 3rd. Adames was up and on an 0-2 count watched strike 3 cross the plate to end the game!
Final Score: Dodgers 3, Rays 0
How it Was Played
We used Baseball Classics 2020 MLB Season Premium Edition Player Cards with Real-Time Pitching, team fielding, and next gen Scorecard. It took nearly 2 hours to complete by tracking every pitch. This game included 4 pitching changes and 1 pinch hitter.
[Simulated Results]
Baseball Classics World Series Game 4
Dodgers at Rays
Both lineups featured some power and that would prove to be valuable. However, this time the lineups dictated by both managers didn’t produce their best glovemen. This would prove costly in our simulation as the last (turned out to be winning) run of the game score was an unearned run.
Play ball!
In the first 3 innings, the Dodgers went three up, three down. Yarbrough fanned 4 of the first 9 Dodgers he faced. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Zunino hit a single off a 1-0 pitch. With 2 outs, rookie sensation Randy Arozarena kept things going with a base hit. Urias escaped the jam by getting ahead of the count on Brosseau 0-2 before getting him to easily flyout.
End of 3, No score
In the top of the 4th, Mookie Betts earned his keep with a leadoff single. Seager hit into a bang-bang fielder’s choice. Yarbrough only fell behind 2 batters at this point. Turner was anxious and popped out on the first pitch he saw. With two outs Max Muncy stepped up to the plate and also offered at the first pitch too, but his was a long, deep drive over the wall to put Los Angeles on top 2-zip! Yet, the Rays answered with a home run of their own in the bottom of the 4th by Brandon Lowe! This solo shot cut the lead in half.
Yarbrough pitch count was only at 38, but he struggled in the 4th surrendering 3 hits and 2 runs. Fairbanks replaced him to get the final out of the inning by striking out Bellinger after a 1-2 count. However, Fairbanks came up gimpy after that and had to leave the game due to an injury. The Rays had to keep this game close, so they went to trustworthy Diego Castillo for the top of the 5th.
End of 4, Dodgers 2, Rays 1
The top of the 6th looked routine for the Rays as Betts lead off with an easy flyout. Seager popped nearly straight up the elevator shaft, but Tampa’s catcher bobbled the ball for an error. With speedy Seager first base, this instantly turned into a dangerous situation for the Rays who desperately need to keep the Dodgers from pushing another run across. With playoff clutch hitting superstar Justin Turner up, the tension was apparent in the Rays dugout. The count went even at 2 balls, 2 strikes. On the next pitch Turner laced a double, Seager was waved home…the play at the plate was close, but due to the weaker fielding of the ball by Margot in left field, Seager was barely safe at the plate! Fortunately, Castillo retired Muncy and Smith, but that 3rd Dodger unearned run really hurt. The Rays could not score in their half of the 6th inning.
End of 6, Dodgers 3, Rays 1
Urias was on watch going into the 7th inning. He had allowed 4 hits, walked no one, and whiffed 3. His pitch count was only at 70. Holding onto a 3-1 lead, he was on the mound for the bottom of the 7th facing the lower half of the order. Adames, Renfroe, and Zunino all struck out to end the Rays 7th. The Dodgers went down in order in their half of the 8th inning.
Heading into the bottom of the 8th, Dodgers 3, Rays 1
After 85 pitchers, the Dodgers went to their bullpen. Urias surely did his job well. Reliever Jake McGee came in. That’s when the luck for the Rays turned. Kiermair reached on a 1-base throwing error to first base by Will Smith. Perhaps Barnes should have been in there as the Dodgers backstop. With the tying run at the plate in the name of Yandy Diaz, he weakly grounded out, but Kaiermair advanced to second base. Arozarena walked. That was enough to bring in Dodgers ace stopper Kenley Jansen.
Jansen threw a wild pitch moving the runners up and a passed ball cost them a run as Kiermair crossed the plate and Arozarena standing on third. With the tying run 90 feet away and only 1 out, Brosseau and Margot drew plenty of pitches, but neither could get the job done.
End of 8, Dodgers 3, Rays 2
The Dodgers threatened in the top of the 9th getting their first two runners on, but 3 popouts ended any chance to bring an insurance run or two home!
Jansen faced Lowe, who homered earlier in the game, to start the Rays 9th inning. With superb pitching he struck him out on 3 straight pitches and did the same to Adames. With home run threat Renfroe up next, the first pitch was a ball. Renfroe swung away at the next pitch, hoping to launch on into the seats for a dramatic finish, but instead grounded out to end the game.
Final Score: Dodgers 3, Rays 2
(Last roll of the game shown above as Renfroe grounded out with the play fielded cleanly securing the Dodgers Game 4 sweep in the Baseball Classics simulated projection)
How it Was Played
We used Baseball Classics 2020 MLB Season Premium Edition Player Cards with Real-Time Pitching, team fielding, Play Action Simulator, and next gen Scorecard. It took nearly 75 minutes to complete by tracking every pitch. This game included 5 pitching changes.
