Dodgers’ 23RD Pennant, Sea Leads (3-2)

While the ALCS, which to this point, has seen the Seattle Mariners “playing the part” of the ’93 eventual champion Blue Jays, with road wins in #’s 1 and 2 and a home such, in last night’s 5th to lead the Jays (3-2) –Sho Ohtani (let’s not get carried away here, as L.A. was up (3-0) and he had been 3 for 29 at the plate, fanning 11 times), however, hail his 3 home runs, all solo and yes 7 plus innings pitching excellence as was the case with all the L.A. starters, in a (5-1)– 23rd pennant clinching win for the Dodgers, attained in a 4 game sweep vs the Milwaukee Brewers.

I “warned” here about interviews, and “Tor” did win #’s 3 and 4 making the home team (4-0) in the clash of the ’77 expansion teams.

They also had a (2-1) lead in front of Seattle fans, who shamefully cheered when one of the few modern players I like, George Springer, was forced to leave the tilt, but could not add when Azorarena, perhaps another one to admire, leaped at the wall to take away a possible HR and at least an extra base hit, keeping the score (2-1).

Next, promo’d to bat, B8 and with a 60 “reg” homers season, Cal Raleigh, hit a (2-0) pitch beyond the leaping Jays Lfielder to tie the game.

Losing pitcher Little (you would not know it from the Fox graphic that stayed on for a long time –I do not know that it was corrected, indicating Dominquez as such) not only yielded the pretty much all important HR to Raleigh, but walked 2, was replaced by Dominguez who HBP’d Polanco before serving up the grand slam homer to Eugenio Suarez, who earlier “solo’d” (Napoleon anyone?–not the delicacy), as Sea scored first for the 4th straight game.

The epic performance by Ohtani came 1 day shy of 48 years after Reggie Jackson, pictured above, also hit 3 home runs for the winning team in a series clinching game, that in #6 ’77 W.S. on this date.

Jackson’s feat and of course he did not pitch (also the Brewers are not the Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds, whom L.A. is evoking so far though I do not care if they go (13-1) and repeat as champions, after finally getting the monkey off its back the year before, the Reds were/are discernibly better) came in a World Series standing (3-2), each fact making at the least the game of Reggie’s 3 HR’s, more important than that of Shohei Ohtani’s nevertheless/obvious great feat, last night.