Tim Leary saw first-hand how quickly a World Series can change with one swing of the bat. He threw three scoreless innings in relief of struggling starter Tim Belcher in the 1988 series opener for the Dodgers, a game that ended with Kirk Gibson’s pinch-hit, two-out, two-run, walk-off homer against Dennis Eckersley.
That iconic shot lifted the Dodgers to a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics and catapulted them toward their last championship.
Wednesday night’s game overflowed with such series-altering moments — Marwin Gonzalez’s score-tying homer for the Astros in the ninth, solo shots by Houston’s Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in the 10th, Yasiel Puig’s homer and Enrique Hernandez’s run-scoring single to tie it in the 10th and, finally, George Springer’s two-run shot to win it for the Astros in the 11th.