Dodgers walk it off in winner take all game, a breakdown

Oct 8, 2021 549.9K views 4:51

What Happened

The Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals are locked in a winner-take-all National League Wild Card Game, a high-stakes, single-elimination matchup with the loser's season coming to an end. It's the bottom of the ninth inning, with the game tied 1-1. Veteran slugger Albert Pujols, a future Hall of Famer, steps up to the plate as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals. Pujols battles Dodgers reliever Tj McFarland in a tense at-bat, working the count full before flying out to center field. Outfielder Harrison Bader makes the catch for the second out. Up next is Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers' struggling former MVP. Bellinger takes a pair of close pitches, running the count to 3-2 against Cardinals closer Giovanny Gallegos. Bellinger then steals second base, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position. Dodgers pinch hitter Chris Taylor steps in, the game on the line. On a 3-2 pitch, Taylor absolutely crushes a slider, launching a towering, walk-off home run into the left field seats. The Dodger Stadium crowd erupts in jubilation as Taylor races around the bases, his teammates mobbing him at home plate in celebration. Dodgers veteran starting pitcher Max Scherzer, acquired in a midseason trade, celebrates with his former Washington Nationals teammates who are in attendance. Bellinger throws celebratory punches in the middle of the scrum, while Cardinals manager Mike Shildt and his players watch on in dejection as their season comes to an end. It's a stunning, game-winning blast by Taylor, the fifth player ever to hit a walk-off homer in a win-or-go-home postseason game. The Dodgers advance to the National League Division Series, their celebration capturing the sheer exhilaration and emotion of this dramatic, high-pressure moment.

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the dodgers and cardinals are tied up at

one run apiece in the nl wild card game

a one game elimination matchup loser

goes home winner gets to start their

postseason run basically bottom nine