Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
No ball club wanted to face St Louis in a one-off Wild Card game. Winners of 17 straight down the stretch, with a veteran 40-year-old pitcher and his killer curveball, they seemed destined to be this postseason’s Cinderella story.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Boys in Blue who hail from a show biz city hatched their own Hollywood ending that was literally Taylor-made.
Dodger outfielder Chris Taylor, who came late to the party as a double switch in the sixth, launched a walk-off two-run homer off Redbirds reliever Alex Reyes to clinch a NLDS play date with the San Francisco Giants – their first in playoff history.
Taylor, who was having a banner year, struggled so much in the second half, manager Dave Roberts dropped him from the starting line up. The 2021 All-star was 8/72 before his season saving blast into the centerfield seats, and his clutch diving catch in the seventh saved a possible go-head run.
When Albert Pujols got the call to pinch-hit in lieu of Gavin Lux, it appeared that the stage was set for some redemption against the team he left with some bitterness.
But the alternate ending, call it a rewrite if you will, gave Taylor a leading role, and Cody Bellinger, banished to eighth in the line up, second fiddle for a single, and a pair of walks he converted into stolen bases.
Dodger ace Max Scherzer had uncharacteristic control issues – laboring through 4 2/3 innings in front of a sold out crowd, which included two of his former Washington Nats.
The blue and brown-eyed right-hander was lifted in the fifth with one out, two men on base and a 94-pitch count. His only mistake was a run scored on a wild pitch – He scattered three hits, three walks and fanned four.
When Roberts came to the mound and put out his hand, a disappointed Scherzer shook it instead of delivering the ball. Although it seemed like the right move, it reeked of Monday morning quarterbacking until reliever Joe Kelly saved his manager’s hide, getting out of the inning on a 3-2 strikeout, securing the 1-1 tie.
Cardinals counterpart, Adam Wainwright was sharp shutting down LA on a steady diet of sinkers, cutters and curves. His one misstep, a 75 mph curveball Justin Turner took 401 feet for the game tying solo shot to left.
The Dodgers brilliant bullpen kept the Cards off the scoreboard with a pair of singles, a walk, punching out six.
So on a night when it was win or clean out your locker, the baseball gods got it right by giving the team with 106 victories a seat at the NLDS table over the ball club who coughed up a mere 90.
