Former White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech was called upon in the ninth inning to nail down Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night. The inning turned out to be a bit more eventful than Kopech and the Dodgers had envisioned.
With the Dodgers holding a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, Dave Roberts handed Kopech the ball to face the bottom half of the Yankees lineup. The inning got off to a good start. Kopech set up Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe with three consecutive four-seam fastballs to get ahead in the count 1-2 before throwing him off balance with a high slider for a strikeout.
Kopech went back to the fastball against Anthony Rizzo but was unable to locate it walking the left-handed first baseman on five pitches. A wild pitch then moved Rizzo into scoring position. Kopech responded by inducing a soft pop-out off the bat of Austin Wells.
But with just one out needed to clinch Game 3, the Yankees put the pressure on. Alex Verdugo took a 99 mph fastball on the inside corner for strike one. He then watched a 100 mph fastball go over the heart of the plate for strike two. He wasn’t fooled on the third fastball Kopech tried to sneak past him and fouled off a 100.2 mph heater. Koepch tried to go back to the fastball one more time but Verdugo belted it to right field for a two-run homer. Despite shaving the Dodger’s lead in half, Kopech got the honor of securing the final out five pitches later when he got Gleyber Torres to ground out on a 100 mph fastball.
Seeing Kopech pitch in a World Series the same year he was closing out games for a 41-win White Sox team is still a bit strange for White Sox fans. But to Kopech’s credit, he has taken advantage of the opportunity to play for a contender and is now just one game away from winning a ring.
