Kershaw, LA stars shine, Dodgers top Rays 8-3 in WS opener

Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts and Los Angeles Dodgers left Tampa Bay Rays stuck in neutral to start a most strange World Series played amid pandemic.

Kershaw dominated for six innings, Bellinger and Betts homered and Dodgers chased a wild Tyler Glasw in fifth inning for an 8-3 win Tuesday night in first Series held at a neutral site.

A crowd limited by coronavirus to 11,388 at Globe Life Field, new $1.2 billion home of Texas Rangers, marked smallest for baseball’s top event in 111 years.

Kershaw, a regular season star with an erratic postseason history, looked like ace who so often stars on midsummer evenings with San Gabriel Mountains behind him at Dodger Stium. With se games shifted, 32-year-old left-hander wound up pitching t far from his season home in Dallas.

three-time CY Young Award winner allowed one run and two hits, struck out eight and walked one. He induced 19 swings and misses among his 78 pitches -- more than his three previous Series starts combined. He threw nine balls in first, when he stranded a pair of runners, n threw just nine more over next three innings.

Kershaw retired 13 in a row before his only mistake, a fastball Kevin Kiermeier pulled for a home run in fifth inning that cut Rays’ deficit to 2-1. five-time ERA champ improved to 2-2 in World Series and 12-12 in postseason play, a show of his 175-76 regular season record.

Game 2 is Wednesday night. Dodgers, who posted best record in majors during shortened season and showed off all ir stars in Game 1, plan to throw a collection of relievers against Rays ace Blake Snell.

Im credits: AP