On Oct 6, the Los Angeles Dodgers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in a one game elimination matchup. The winner will move on to the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers had the second most wins after the regular season ended, only one win behind the team with the most. For the Cardinals they had the longest win streak towards the end of the regular season. They went on to win 17 games in a row to be in this position in the postseason. This would be a battle against two hot teams but only one can move on. It all came down to one game, win or go home for both teams, losing wasn’t an option for them.

A Slow Start

The Dodgers had a super slow start on the defensive end of things. Right off the bat Dodgers’ ace Max Scherzer had to deal with runners at first and third with only one out. This is when he threw a wild pitch that got away from the Dodgers catcher and brought in the Cardinals first run. He would eventually get out of the inning only allowing that one run but this put the Dodgers in a hole. After that inning a great defensive display was shown by both teams until the 4th inning. That is when Justin Turner hit a solo blast to left field tying the game one a piece. So far in this game it has been a strong defensive showing but one team had to break.

Bringing it Home

Although both teams consistently got players on base it just seemed like neither team could bring home a run. This was due to some clutch pitching out of both teams. Adam Wainwright was able to get out of a bases loaded situation by forcing a double play. Then multiple pitchers for the Dodgers were able to get out of innings even with runners on base. These pitchers included Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, and Kenley Jansen. Jansen came into the game at the top of the 9th inning and was able to strike out the side. This gave the Dodgers a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the 9th inning. This set up Chris Taylor to be at the plate with 2 outs and a runner on second base. This meant that a base hit would most likely win the game. Then Taylor did the unthinkable and hit a walk off home run to win the game for the Dodgers. This would move them on in the playoffs into the Nation League Division Series.

Giants Up Next

With that victory for the Dodgers it set up a matchup with the San Francisco Giants. This will be a battle between the top two teams from the regular season. It will also be the first time these two teams matchup in the postseason. Not only that but it will be the first matchup between two teams that won 105 plus games in the regular season. This is set to be a historic series between these two teams. Only one can move on and most people expect this series to go the distance so only time will tell for who moves on.