World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen melts down at worst possible time

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' bullpen was almost perfect as the team rolled into the World Series.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles' relievers were perfectly miserable.

Houston broke a streak of 28 consecutive scoreless by the Dodgers' relief corps in the eighth inning Wednesday, then hit four homers and scored five runs in the final three innings of a 7-6, 11-inning victory to even the World Series at one game apiece.

The teams head to Houston for Games 3, 4 and 5.

"It was an emotional roller coaster," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "There were some big plays defensively. Some big pitches made. Obviously some big hits and big homers.

"Those guys, to their credit against a very good bullpen, they tacked on runs, kept going."

Marwin Gonzalez hit a bases-empty homer off closer Kenley Jansen to tie the game at 3 leading off the ninth inning. The Astros scored two runs apiece off Josh Fields in the 10th and Brandon McCarthy in the 11th for their first World Series victory in the 56-year history of the franchise.

The Dodgers' bullpen had not been scored upon since the Arizona Diamondbacks' Brandon Drury hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning of Los Angeles' 8-5 victory in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The Dodgers swept that series in three games, and the relievers followed with 14 scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs while winning the NL Championship Series four games to one.

Jansen, who converted 41 of 42 save chances in the regular season and was 4-for-4 in the postseason before Wednesday, blew a save for the first time in his 13 postseason chances. He had not allowed a run in nine innings this postseason.

"He's been virtually unhittable," Roberts said. "Gonzalez put a good swing on an 0-2 pitch, and it was center cut. You tip your hat to him. Where Kenley's workload, where he was at, that part of the order, it's a great spot for him. And it just doesn't always go as planned."

Jansen entered with a 3-1 lead after Brandon Morrow gave up a leadoff double in the eighth inning, and Correa's single up the middle made it 3-2. Jansen has appeared in nine of the Dodgers' 10 postseason games, although because of their quick series victories over the Diamondbacks and the Cubs, he was making only his second appearance in back-to-back games.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy," Jansen said.

McCarthy was the Dodgers' last bullpen arm -- the only pitchers unused were Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish and Alex Wood -- because Roberts started early, removing Rich Hill after he gave up one run in four innings.

It was his usual strategy. Hill had not faced a lineup a third time through the order this season. Kenta Maeda got four outs, Tony Watson two. The trouble started when Ross Stripling walked the only batter he faced in the seventh, forcing a quick move to Morrow.

Hill gave up three hits and three walks while striking out seven, and Roberts allowed that "there was a chance" he could have gone out for the fifth with his pitch count at 60.

"I just felt that right there with the top of their order coming up, and with the way our bullpen has been throwing, you look back behind that, we had three scoreless innings after that," Roberts said.

"So just trust the guys behind him. The bottom line is, I'll take Kenley any day of the week with a one-run lead going into the ninth inning."