Buehler puts stamp on Series, Mexican-born Urias takes the hill

In last night's Game Three of the World Series, LA's Walker Buehler fired a three-hitter through six innings with 10 strikeouts and the Dodgers' potent bats came alive against Tampa Bay's Charlie Morton for a decisive 6-2 win and a 2-1 edge in the Series.

Morton came into the game with a 5-0 record in the postseason and an infinitesimal 0.70 ERA. Morton is Tampa Bay's stopper but Justin Turner greeted him with a bomb to left field in the first inning and the LA hitting machine revved up in the third and fourth innings to put the game out of reach.

Max Muncy cracked a two-run single in the third frame, Austin Barnes executed a squeeze bunt in the fourth, and Mookie Betts drove in another run with a single up the middle against Tampa Bay's four-man outfield.

Barnes then added a solo home run in the fifth inning to round out LA's scoring.

Buehler was dominant, clocking the upper 90s on the radar gun and controlling the strike zone. Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, and Kenley Jansen closed out the game and only a Randy Arozarena solo shot off Jansen spoiled a clean slate for the bullpen.

But Jansen, who almost lost his closer job earlier in the postseason, looked like his old self while closing the game in the ninth.

Tonight, the Dodgers throw Julio Urias, the pride of Culiacan Rosales, against a bullpen game for the Rays. 

Urias, who has worked both as a starter and reliever this year, is 4-0 in the postseason with a 0.56 ERA. He has worked 16 innings in the postseason, most recently three innings of shutout ball in Game Seven against Atlanta in the NLCS.

A win tonight would give the Dodgers a commanding 3-1 lead in the Series with Clayton Kershaw scheduled to go in Game Five tomorrow night. A Tampa Bay win would even the series at 2-2.

Urias will be the second Mexican-born Dodgers' pitcher to start a World Series game. Fernando Valenzuela started and won in the 1981 Series. He was on the 1988 roster but did not pitch due to injury. Urias pitched three innings in relief in the 2018 Series. Viva La Raza.