World Series – Game 6 – Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
First pitch: Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -110, Los Angeles +100, Total: 7.0

The Dodgers will be trying to force a Game 7 when they take on the Astros in Game 6 on Tuesday.

It’s hard to even put into words how wild Game 5 was between the Astros and the Dodgers, but it’s worth noting that Houston overcame multiple three-run deficits to ultimately take a 3-2 series lead. The Astros will now be sending RHP Justin Verlander (4-0, 2.05 ERA, 29 K in postseason) to the hill on Tuesday and the expectation is that the veteran ace will be able to shut it down and bring Houston a World Series victory. Los Angeles, however, will have LHP Rich Hill (0-0, 2.77 ERA, 19 K in postseason) on the mound and Hill is no slouch himself. He was one of the better pitchers in the National League when healthy this season and the Dodgers are going to be comfortable with the lefty out there for them in this one. The one thing Los Angeles will, however, have to do is trust in Hill to get out of jams in the middle innings. The team has had a short leash with Hill in the postseason and that can’t be the case on Tuesday. The Dodgers have dug themselves a hole in this series by burning their bullpen and they need to make sure they have fresh arms out there in this one.

With one win to go to win a World Series, the Astros couldn’t possibly be happier to have Justin Verlander on the mound for them. Verlander has been absolutely insane in the playoffs, as he has allowed a total of six earned runs in 28.0 innings pitched as a starter for Houston. Verlander was great against this Dodgers team in Game 2, as he gave up just three earned runs in six innings of work. The righty didn’t even have his best stuff in that game, so look for him to be even better this time around. He’ll just need to avoid giving up homers, which is something he couldn’t do in Game 2. The Dodgers homered twice off of him in that one and he’ll be hoping to prevent that here. On offense, the Astros will be able to lean on SS Carlos Correa, OF George Springer and 2B Jose Altuve in this game. All three came up huge for Houston last game and it’s just hard to imagine them not finding a way to produce here. That is especially true for Altuve, who is batting .344 with seven homers and 13 RBI during the postseason.

Rich Hill is going to be starting for the Dodgers on Tuesday and the lefty pitched well in his last trip to the mound. He started Game 2 against Verlander and allowed just one earned run in four innings of work. Hill struck out seven in that game and threw just 60 pitches. A lot of people have called his removal in that game a mistake, so expect manager Dave Roberts to have a longer leash with him. Hill is capable of throwing least 90 pitches in any given start, so the Dodgers should leave him in as long as he is performing at a high level. On offense, the team will be counting on SS Corey Seager, 3B Justin Turner and 1B Cody Bellinger here. Both Seager and Bellinger are lefties, so they have an advantage facing a righty like Verlander in this one. Bellinger was almost the hero in Game 5, as he was 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBI in that game. If he can keep swinging a hot bat then perhaps the Dodgers will still win this series.