JTA — Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman notched the first-ever walk-off hit by a Jewish player in the World Series when his RBI single drove home Derek Fisher to lead his team to an epic 13-12, 10-inning win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After the five-hour-plus game, which lasted into early Monday morning on the east coast, Houston leads the series 3-2.
The Dodgers scored three runs in the first inning and held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. The home-team Astros tied it, then fell behind, 7-4, then tied it again, 7-7, then fell behind , 8-7.
The Astros took the lead, 11-8, in the bottom of the seventh, added one more in the eighth, and needed just one out in the ninth inning when the Dodgers rallied to tie it 12-12. Bregman’s game-winning single came with two outs and the winning run on second base. He also singled and walked in six plate appearances, scoring twice.
Bregman isn’t the only Jewish player making headlines in the World Series. In Game Four Saturday night, Dodger Joc Pederson‘s three-run shot in the ninth extended the Dodgers’s lead to 6-1. That was followed in the bottom of the inning by another Bregman homer, bringing the final score to 6-2. Both players have homered twice in the series.
Bregman, 23, is about to complete his first full season in the big leagues.
The series heads back to California for Game Six on Tuesday night.
(Ron Kaplan publishes Kaplan’s Korner, a blog devoted to Jews and sports.)
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