One big swing by Chris Taylor on Wednesday sent the Los Angeles Dodgers soaring and the St Louis Cardinals crashing in a 3-1 result.
Taylor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to advance the Dodgers in a scintillating National League wild-card game.
Justin Turner homered early as the 106-win Dodgers advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against NL West champions the San Francisco Giants, who won 107 games to barely hold off Los Angeles for the division title.
Photo: AFP
“That’s gonna be fun. Yeah, two of the best regular-season records of all-time. We’ve been battling all year, so I expect a hard-fought series,” Taylor said.
The Dodgers celebrated on the field before heading into their clubhouse to continue the party.
Champagne and beer were poured over the heads of shirtless, goggle-wearing players, thrilled to have stayed alive for a shot at their Bay Area adversary.
Photo: AP
“One of the great rivalries in sports,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s happening.”
The sellout crowd of 53,193 at Dodger Stadium hung on every pitch as the tension of a tied game built from the fourth inning on.
Fans waved blue towels, futilely urging on the few balls launched into the outfield only to see them caught in a winner-take-all matchup between two of the NL’s most storied and successful franchises.
Photo: AFP
The crowd was on its feet in the ninth, anxiously waiting to see if the defending World Series champions could pull out a must-have win.
Cody Bellinger got the Dodgers started when he drew a two-out walk from T.J. McFarland.
Alex Reyes entered to face Taylor and Bellinger stole second.
“That’s huge, knowing I don’t have to do too much,” said Taylor, who was batting in the No. 9 slot after entering to play left field as part of a double switch in the seventh inning. “It kind of settled me down a little bit.”
Taylor then sent a 2-1 breaking ball into the left-field pavilion, triggering an explosion of cheers and ending a struggle that lasted 4 hours, 15 minutes.
The versatile veteran struggled last month because of a recurring neck injury. He came off the bench in the Dodgers’ most important game of the season so far.
“Honestly, I was just trying to hit a single,” Taylor said after launching the fourth game-ending homer in Dodgers post-season history. “He gave me a good slider to hit and I was able to get it up in the air.”
Taylor also was involved in a nifty defensive play in the eighth, robbing Edmundo Sosa of a hit for the second out.
Tommy Edman dropped a one-out single into right off closer Kenley Jansen in the top of the ninth and stole second. Paul Goldschmidt took a called third strike and Tyler O’Neill went down swinging to end the threat.
Edman went three for five with a run scored.
The Dodgers’ bullpen stymied the St Louis hitters, allowing just a pair of singles after the fifth inning.
“The whole bullpen stepped up. We’ve been doing it the whole year,” Jansen said. “Off we go up north now.”
Both teams had runners on in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but couldn’t push a run across.
“It was a grind all night,” Turner said.
St Louis finished none for 11 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 overall.
“That’s a clubhouse full of guys that are hurting,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS