In Game 5, Los Angeles Dodgers IF Justin Turner comes up big right in the nick of time.
Down three games to one, the Dodgers had only one thing going for them: their three best arms, Buehler, Kershaw, and Price, were lined up to work the fifth, sixth, and seventh games. That assumed, of course, that the Series went beyond a fifth game.
Twins manager Baldelli sent Berrios out to face Buehler in the hope of ending matters.
Berrios appeared up to the task. Through six innings, the Dodgers collected only a pair of harmless two-out hits, and a fourth-inning walk to Justin Turner provided their only other baserunner. Berrios struck out six in those first six frames.
Meanwhile, the Twins fashioned a first-inning run in an unusual fashion: they manufactured it. Buxton drew an opening walk, stole second, took third on Polanco’s roller to the mound and scored on Donaldson’s infield grounder.
Cruz made it 2-0 in the fourth in more conventional fashion, with a home run into the left-field bullpen.
With Berrios working effortlessly, that two-run lead loomed large. Not until the seventh, when Turner sent a high slider to the wall in right-center and beat the throw-in for a triple, did the Dodgers mount a serious threat. He came in on A.J. Pollock’s two-out single.
Baldelli pulled Berrios for pinch hitter Astudillo in the eighth, and Astudillo delivered a one-out single. But nothing came of it when Buehler’s relief, Adam Kolarek, struck out Buxton and got Polanco on a popup.
The Twins manager entrusted the eighth to his season-long setup man, Tyler Duffey. But as in previous games, a fielding miscue would prove decisive. With one out, Taylor pinch hit for Kolarek and doubled into left. After Betts walked, Duffey induced a double-play grounder to Polanco…who dropped it and got nobody.
Instead of two out and a runner the third, the Dodgers had the bases full and none out. Muncy struck put, but Turner picked him up with a line shot to the wall in center. Taylor, Betts, and Seager all scored and Los Angeles led 4-2.
This time Jansen was up to the task of closing the door in the ninth, in the process sending the series back to Minnesota for Game 6.
Minnesota 100 100 000 — 2 4 1
Los Angeles 000 000 13 — 4 6 0
W: Kolarek. L: Duffey. S.: Jansen.