The Los Angeles Dodgers embraced the pressure and expectations of playing in the National League Wild Card Game, then avoided having their season come to an abrupt halt with a 3-1 walk-off win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Max Scherzer expressed confidence he corrected issues that plagued him over his final two starts of the regular season, but he was not sharp against the Cardinals and allowed them to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a wild pitch.
To Scherzer’s credit, he held the Cardinals to just the one run despite only pitching 4.1 innings. It marked the second-shortest postseason start of his career.
Scherzer exited with the game tied thanks to Justin Turner’s solo home run off Adam Wainwright. Turner extended his Dodgers franchise record to 13 homers in the process.
JTIED IT UP! pic.twitter.com/etWJoRX3SB
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 7, 2021
JOE. KELLY. pic.twitter.com/1CFDvAyM4r
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 7, 2021
BRING ON THE NLDS! #WALKOFF pic.twitter.com/Za2Tge069U
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 7, 2021
The game remained knotted at 1 as bullpens for both teams worked through traffic. Then in the ninth inning, Cody Bellinger started a rally with his second walk of the game. Bellinger then stole his second base of the night to move into scoring position for Chris Taylor.
That wound up proving to be a bit of a moot point as Taylor lifted a slider into the left-field pavilion for a walk-off, two-run home run.
“I was just trying not to do too much,” Taylor said after the thrilling victory.
Dodgers-Giants NLDS schedule
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 8, 6:37 p.m. PT, TBS
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 9, 6:07 p.m., TBS
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 11, 6:37 p.m., TBS
Game 4*: Tuesday, Oct. 12, 6:07 p.m., TBS
Game 5*: Thursday, Oct. 14, 6:07 p.m., TBS
*if necessary
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