Ron Griffitts
Contributing columnist
In October 2020, after a shortened 60 game season due to the Covid pandemic, the Tampa Bay Rays 40-20, appearing in their second World Series, were managed by Kevin Cash with general manger Erik Neander met the Los Angeles Dodgers 43-17 appearing in their twenty-fourth World Series managed by Dave Roberts with president Andrew Friedman.
The Rays got past the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0, the New York Yankees 3-2 and the Houston Astros 4-3 to get to the fall classic and were led on offense by Yandy Diaz (.307 BA) and Brandon Lowe (14 HR, 37 RBI, 36 RS).
Their pitching staff had as starters Tyler Glasgow 5-1 and Josh Fleming 5-0, and in the bullpen Nick Anderson with 6 saves and a 0.55 ERA.
The Dodgers were led on offense by Max Muncy (12 HR), Corey Seager (15 HR, 41 RBI, .307 BA), Justin Turner (.307 BA), A. J. Pollock (16 HR), Cody Bellinger (12 HR) and Mookie Betts (16 HR, 47 RS, .292 BA).
Their pitching staff was led by Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 2.16 ERA) and Kenley Jansen (3-1) with 11 saves.
Game one was a Dodger home game with Kershaw as the starter and the Dodger lefthander held the Rays to two hits and one run in six innings of work and with the help of home runs by Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts, Los Angeles took game one 8-2.
Kevin Kiermaier added a home run for Tampa Bay.
The Rays bounced back to even the series with a 6-4 win as five Ray pitchers held the Dodgers to five hits and four runs and Brandon Lowe contributed two home runs.
Chris Taylor, Will Smith and Corey Seager all homered for LA.
For game three, the teams switched up with the Rays being the home team. With the help of six innings of one run baseball by starter Walker Beuhler and home runs by Justin Turner and Austin Barnes, Los Angeles won 6-2 to lead the series 2-1.
Randy Arozarena added a home run for Tampa Bay.
Game four featured six home runs with Justin Turner and Corey Seager connecting for LA and Hunter Renfroe, Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena adding home runs for Tampa Bay but it was a single in the bottom of the ninth inning by Brett Phillips that drove in the winning run as the Rays won 8-7 to tie up the series at 2-2.
In game five, Clayton Kershaw was back and held the Rays to five hits and two runs in five and two thirds innings as the Dodgers pull ahead in the series 3-2. Joc Pederson and Max Muncy homered for LA
Wanting to close out the series, the Dodgers used eight pitchers in limiting Tampa Bay to one run on a Randy Arozarena home run with a Mookie Betts home run and double being the big hits for the Dodgers and they won the game 3-1 and their seventh World Series title.
Corey Seager, who won the National League Championship Series MVP, also got the World Series MVP. Neither the Rays nor the Dodgers were back for the 2021 World Series.
Statistics for this article were from baseball-reference.com.
