Thursday night is marked on the calendar of most baseball fans. The LA Dodgers and New York Mets will play their fifth game of what has been a ridiculously even series. Los Angeles is the home team and the stakes are for an authentic pitcher’s duel between Zach Greinke for the home team and Jacob deGrom for the visitors. Deciding which of these two pitchers has been better during the season is harder than putting a sensible idea into Donald Trump’s head. More reason to watch the game, in which the two cities with highest number of Latinos in the U.S. will face each other.
There are plenty of peloteros whose main goal is for you not to remember the pitchers. How about Adrian “El Titan” Gonzalez? The Mexican is playing solid first base for the Dodgers and batting as usual: like a beast. He has one home run in the series already. Or take the Cuban Yoenis Cespedes, who by himself turned the Mets season around when he came in midseason. He has sent the ball over the fence a few times in October already, including a monster jonrón in Game 3.
Lesser-known names can also do some damage. Put your money on Kike Hernandez. The Puerto Rican is hitting .400 this postseason for the Los Angeles side. Game 5 is the type of occasion that Cuban wonder Yasel Puig (aka The Wild Horse) has been waiting for, eager to come back from his injury in style with his power at the plate and his famous laser-throwing arm.
For the Mets, Venezuelan shortstop Wilmer Flores can show the baseball world how to take advantage of the starter’s injury and Dominican Juan Lagares will put his golden gloves and his timely batting skills to test.
According to the forecast, it’s going to be around 70 degrees Fahrenheit at the Dodger Stadium. With a packed house and an invite to host Game 1 of the NCLS on the line, it’s going to feel a lot warmer. Can you handle the heat?