WASHINGTON – With all of that October experience, no wonder Justin Turner and the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers managed to produce a postseason inning unlike any other: seven runs, all scored with two outs and two strikes.
Turner’s three-run homer capped a startling and record-setting rally in the sixth as the Dodgers roughed up $140 million starter-turned-reliever Patrick Corbin and beat the Washington Nationals 10-4 on Sunday night to grab a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.
“Just a wild inning,” said David Freese, who entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth and finished with four hits.
Russell Martin and pinch-hitter Kike Hernandez added a pair of two-run doubles in the sixth as LA became the first team in major league history to score that many two-out, two-strike runs in one postseason inning. Martin tacked on a two-run homer in the ninth.
The Dodgers can advance to the NL Championship Series for the fourth consecutive year by closing the best-of-five NLDS in Game 4 at Washington on Monday, when LA sends Rich Hill to the mound against Max Scherzer.
And to think: Things were not looking all that good for the Dodgers, who entered the sixth trailing 2-1 after Juan Soto’s two-run homer off eventual winner Hyun-Jin Ryu in the first and Max Muncy’s solo shot off Washington starter Anibal Sanchez in the fifth.
That seemed to wake up LA’s offense.
Well, it was either that or the fact that Sanchez, who struck out nine, was gone to begin the sixth. In came Corbin, the lefty who started — and lost — the opener and hadn’t made a relief appearance since 2017, when he only made one.
“Just couldn’t seem to get that third out there,” Corbin said. “Just stinks.”
It continued Nationals manager Dave Martinez’s penchant for pushing his starters to appear in relief in the playoffs, deemed necessary because of his club’s NL-worst bullpen. The strategy had been working.
Needless to say, not this time against the Dodgers, who lost in the World Series each of the past two years and led the NL with 106 wins this season, 13 more than the Nationals.
“Anibal was at 87 pitches. He gave us all he had. We were at a good spot in the lineup, where we thought Corbin could get through it,” Martinez said. “And his stuff was good. … But he had every hitter 0-2. He just couldn’t finish.”
After Cody Bellinger snapped his 0-for-8 start to the series with a single, Corbin struck out the next two hitters. That’s when it all fell apart for Washington.
Freese, the MVP of the 2011 NLCS and World Series for St. Louis, singled to put runners on the corners. Then Martin came through in his first game of this NLDS, hitting a two-run double on a 2-2 slider that landed on the warning track in left-center, putting the visitors ahead 3-2.
Hernandez connected on a 1-2 slider from Corbin for yet another two-run double to left-center, a hit off the base off the wall.
After Muncy was intentionally walked, Wander Suero entered and promptly served up a full-count fastball that Turner lofted to the back of the visiting bullpen beyond left field.
“A couple guys came up and had really big at bats and that’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Muncy said. “That was one of those things where once one guy started doing it, the next cat picked up on it and it just kind of rolled throughout the inning.”
Suddenly, it was 8-2. With baseball’s ERA leader this season, Ryu, done after going five innings and allowing two runs, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pieced together the remaining 12 outs with five relievers.
Braves 2, Cardinals 1
In St. Louis, Dansby Swanson hit a tying double with two outs in the ninth inning and Duvall delivered a two-run single as Atlanta rallied past the Cardinals 3-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the NL Division Series.
“They never quit. They never give up,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “The heart and desire and will is unbelievable in those guys.”
Atlanta had managed just four hits off Adam Wainwright and Andrew Miller before breaking through against closer Carlos Martínez. With runners on the corners, Swanson tied it at 1 with a drive off the wall in left.
Swanson pumped his arms as he celebrated after his third hit of the game . He came through after an intentional walk to Brian McCann — Swanson’s .187 batting average with runners in scoring position was the lowest in the majors this year among qualified players.
“I love Dansby in those situations. I always have,” Snitker said. “That kid lives for that moment.”
Watching the inning develop, Swanson said he thought he might get a chance to bat in a big spot.
“In those situations, you just try and breathe and relax,” said Swanson, who missed the playoffs last year because of an injured left hand. “It’s easier said than done.”
Duvall, who entered in the eighth, then hit a liner into center field to put the Braves ahead to stay. It was his second big hit of the series after he connected for a pinch-hit homer in Atlanta’s 3-0 victory Friday.
“I’ll be ready whenever they need me,” said Duvall, who spent much of the year with Triple-A Gwinnett.
Game 4 is Monday at Busch Stadium. Atlanta needs one more win to advance to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2001.
This is the first time the Braves have led a postseason series since they were up 2-1 on San Francisco in the 2002 NLDS. They lost the final two games that year.
“History, we don’t really play into that. This is now,” Swanson said.
St. Louis wasted a terrific performance by Wainwright, who pitched 7 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in his first postseason start since 2014. The 38-year-old Georgia native and former Braves draft pick struck out eight and walked two.
In the age of bullpens taking over in October, Wainwright and Mike Soroka locked up in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel. But the relievers ultimately decided the game.
“We were one out away and that is exactly what playoff baseball is all about,” Wainwright said. “Just crazy stuff happens.”
Wainwright departed after he walked Ozzie Albies on his 120th pitch, loading the bases in the first playoff game in St. Louis in four years. He got a big hug on the mound from catcher Yadier Molina and the sellout crowd of 46,701 saluted Wainwright with a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout.
Miller then came in and retired Freddie Freeman on a flyball to center, preserving a 1-0 lead.
But Martínez was hit hard for the second time in the series. He allowed three runs before he closed out St. Louis’ 7-6 victory in Game 1.
“There were some pitches that didn’t go where they were supposed to go,” he said through a translator.
After Atlanta grabbed the lead, Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his second save of the playoffs. Paul Goldschmidt doubled with one out, but Marcell Ozuna struck out looking and Molina lined out to end the game.
“Being able to compete in a game like that is amazing,” Swanson said.
The 22-year-old Soroka was almost as good as Wainwright, pitching seven innings of two-hit ball in his postseason debut.
St. Louis jumped in front when Ozuna doubled in the second, advanced to third on Molina’s grounder and scored on Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly .
After Soroka departed, the Cardinals threatened in the eighth. But pinch-runner Harrison Bader was caught trying to steal third ahead of José Martínez’s pinch-hit single, and Sean Newcomb retired Dexter Fowler to end the inning.
“I thought it was a good time for me to go,” Bader said. “You just stay on the aggressive side and unfortunately it didn’t work out.”
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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times