LOS ANGELES -- Joc Pederson's renaissance hit its crescendo Tuesday when, with a seventh-inning swing, he lifted a solo homer to left that gave the Dodgers a bit more breathing room. With it, the Dodgers took a 3-1 lead that held up for a Game 6 victory, forcing a deciding Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday.
The homer was the third of this World Series for Pederson, who hadn't even made the Dodgers' roster in the National League Division Series. Now, Pederson joins Duke Snider (1952 and 1955), Reggie Smith (1977) and Davey Lopes (1978) as the only players in Dodgers history to go deep three times in a single Fall Classic.
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Pederson's opposite-field blast off Astros reliever Joe Musgrove left with an exit velocity of 102.3 mph and a launch angle of 37 degrees. According to Statcast™, that combination of exit velocity and launch angle has resulted in a homer only two out of 10 times over the last three seasons.
With the homer, Pederson now has as many extra-base knocks this postseason (six) as he did total hits in the months of August and September.