Dodgers on the cusp of first title since 1988

 After Saturday night's ninth-inning collapse, Dodgers' fans had to wonder if the baseball gods had one more dose of cruelty in store for us.

With a chance to go up 3-1 in the Series evaporating into the Texas night, the Dodgers called on Clayton Kershaw on Sunday to summon up one more winning outing -- and he did.

The future Hall of Famer acknowledged afterward that he didn't have his slider that was so devastating in Game One but he gutted it out, holding the Rays to two runs on five hits and striking out six in 5.2 innings of work.

A pivotal point in the game came in the bottom of the fourth when Manny Margot tried to steal home but Kershaw cut him down at the plate by firing to Austin Barnes. First baseman Max Muncy alerted Kershaw to the attempted steal and he stepped off the rubber and tossed to Barnes, who put down the tag in a bang-bang play.

The Dodgers' got things going with two runs in the first inning off Tyler Glasnow when Mookie Betts stroked a double to left and Corey Seager slashed a single to right. Bellinger then singled to right to make the score 2-0. The Dodgers increased the lead to 3-0 in the second inning when Joc Pederson powered an oppo homer to left-center.

Tampa Bay fought back, as they always do, on a Kevin Kiermaer single, Yandy Diaz triple to right, and a single up the middle by Randy Arozarena.  

LA's pen turned in a shutdown performance as Dustin May, Victor Gonzalez, and Blake Treinen pitched the final 3.1 innings. 

Treinan supplanted Kenley Jansen in the closer role and rookies May and Gonzalez pitched like they were back in Triple-A, shutting down the Rays to preserve a critical win in Game 5.

The Dodgers have an off-day today before Game Six on Tuesday. Tony Gonsolin takes the hill Tuesday against Game Two winner Blake Snell, who held LA to two runs on two hits over 4.2 innings in Tampa Bay's 6-4 win.

Should there be a Game Seven, LA's Walker Buehler will pair off against Tampa Bay's Charlie Morton in a rematch of Game Three when Buehler held the Rays to one run on three hits over six innings and the Dodgers battered Morton for five runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings.