Joc Pederson's three-run shot in the top of the ninth inning has helped the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros to level the World Series at 2-2.
With the game four scores tied at 1-1, the Dodgers got their noses in front through Cody Bellinger's run-scoring single before a sacrifice fly from Austin Barnes scored another.
Pederson then smashed a homer to right field to give the Dodgers a five-run lead and silence the home crowd on Saturday night.
With the Astros down to their final strike, Alex Bregman homered but it proved too little too late as their unbeaten home stretch in the post season ended at seven games.
No hits in 13 at-bats, the turnaround in fortunes wasn't lost on Bellinger.
"Sometimes you see in the post season you want to try to do too much, and that's what I was doing," Bellinger said.
"Tonight I tried to make an effort of not doing too much, and when you do that you get two hits sometimes. It's a crazy game."
Houston's hard-throwing closer Ken Giles faltered again.
"I didn't do my job - that simple. I let the team down," he said.
With the game tied in the ninth inning, Giles was charged with three runs without getting an out, inflating his post season ERA (earned run average) to 11.75.
He's allowed at least a run in six of seven appearances - a staggering flop after posting a 1.14 ERA over his final 38 regular season games.
"They were all crappy pitches, not where I wanted them," Giles said Saturday.
"I need to do better, I need to pick up this team, I need to carry my weight, and I need to do more for these guys."
In his previous outing, Giles gave up a solo homer to Yasiel Puig and a tying hit to Enrique Hernandez to blow a lead in the 10th inning of game two.
Houston bailed him out, rallying for a 7-6, 11-inning win.
There was no such comeback after Giles' game four collapse.
Game Five is scheduled for Sunday in Houston.
Share
