Justin Turner hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 3-1 win against the Houston Astros in the first game of the 2017 World Series on Tuesday night in front of 54,253 at Dodger Stadium.
Left-hander Clayton Kershaw earned the victory in his first World Series start. Kershaw, the three-time winner of the National League's Cy Young Award and its 2014 Most Valuable Player, amassed 11 strikeouts, scattered three hits, conceded no walks and permitted just one run in seven innings. Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout for the save.
Kershaw became the first Dodgers pitcher to compile at least 10 strikeouts in a World Series game since Sandy Koufax performed the feat in the seventh game of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins.
Alex Bregman hit a home run for the Astros, who have yet to win a World Series game in club history after being swept by the Chicago White Sox in 2005, their lone previous appearance. Left-hander Dallas Keuchel allowed three runs, six hits and one walk in six and two-thirds inning while striking out four Dodgers and 15 groundouts, including six on three double plays.
Chris Taylor added a home run and Corey Seager went 2-for-3 in his first game since October 9th. Seager missed the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs because of a strained back.
Taylor began Los Angeles’ sixth-inning rally by drawing a walk with two out. Turner then sent Keuchel’s 90mph fastball into the left-field stands for his fourth post-season homer this year.
Turner’s two-run drive gave him 23 career post-season RBI as a Dodger, tying Duke Snider’s career record.
Taylor put the Dodgers ahead when he hit Keuchel’s first pitch, an 88mph slider, 447 feet into the left-field stands for his third home run of the post-season. Taylor became the fourth player in World Series history to hit a lead-off home run in the first game.
Kershaw retired the first seven Astros he faced, and nine of the first 10, before Bregman tied the score in the top of the fourth inning. Bregman propelled a fastball about three rows into the left-field stands. Kershaw then retired the next nine batters he faced.
The temperature at game time was 39C, the hottest recorded for the start of a World Series game since 1984 and likely the hottest ever. Unseasonably hot weather is scheduled to continue in the Los Angeles area through Wednesday.
Celebrities in attendance included Dustin Hoffman, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry King, Lady Gaga, George Lopez and Rob Lowe.
(Guardian service)
