ARLINGTON, Texas – Walker Buehler strutted off the mound Friday night as if this wasn't the World Series, as if 10 strikeouts in six overpowering innings was nothing, as if these kinds of dominant performances on his sport's grandest stage are routine.
They aren't for most pitchers, but most pitchers don't have Buehler's résumé. Only 26, he is a big-game pitcher in every sense of the overused descriptor. He provided more evidence in the Los Angeles Dodgers' thorough 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 at Globe Life Field.
The righthander didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning and held the Rays to one run on three hits and a walk in six innings. He became the first pitcher in World Series history to record 10 strikeouts in six or fewer innings. By the end of the night, he had a 1.80 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 25 innings across five outings this postseason.
"I've taken the failures that I've had and tried to learn from them a little bit," Buehler said. "Obviously our team gave me a cushion early so I could be aggressive."
Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol and Kenley Jansen each pitched an inning to finish off the game as the Dodgers took a 2-1 series lead, moving within two victories of their first championship since 1988.
Los Angeles' run-production portfolio, diversified in 2020 to avoid another October disappointment, supplied plenty of support. Justin Turner and Austin Barnes each slugged a home run. Barnes also drove in a run by executing a safety squeeze. Mookie Betts delivered two singles and stole two bases for the second time in the World Series, and Max Muncy hit a two-out, two-run single. The Dodgers scored five two-out runs and have an MLB record 50 in the postseason.
All that was more than enough for Buehler, who started 15 of 21 batters with strikes and threw strikes on 67 of 93 pitches.
"You can see the fastball just pop through the zone," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "Other than a few breaking balls here or there, it was very much a there it is, hit it approach. You totally understand and appreciate why he's so talented. He's got a really special fastball that gets on hitters and commands it well."
