In an NL Wild Card Game that was tight and tense from start to finish, the Dodgers provided a Hollywood ending with a walk-off home run by Chris Taylor in the ninth inning for a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday night, setting up an NLDS date with the division-rival Giants.
Pitching and defense stole the show early, with Dodgers starter Max Scherzer grinding through 4 1/3 innings, allowing just one run even though he wasn’t his sharpest self. Joe Kelly took the ball from the Los Angeles ace and got two huge outs to avoid further damage with men on first and second in the fifth.
The Dodgers franchise’s postseason leader in home runs struck again, as Justin Turner homered in the fourth, the only damage done against Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright and the only run Los Angeles mustered until the walk-off.
Dodgers will take on Giants in the NLDS on Friday at Oracle Park. This will be the first time in MLB history these two arch rivals play in postseason series. Also it will be first ever postseason series between 105+ win teams (there’s also never been a regular-season game b/w 105+ win teams) – 213 combined regular-season wins, most in any postseason series all-time.
[…] Los Angeles Dodgers won 106 games in the 2021 regular season, but their season was on the line on Wednesday night at Dodgers Stadium until Chris Taylor homers in the bottom of 9th innings to walk it off against Cardinals in the National League Wild Card Game. […]