*Photo from Bleacher Report*
Los Angeles wins series 3-2
At the culmination of the series, one team from the NL West is moving on to the NLCS. Ok, that doesn't tell you anything. Now I will. Corey Seager doubled, Cody Bellinger drove in the winning run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Thursday night.
With the win, the Dodgers have clinched their second straight NLCS appearance, as well as their 4th in the last 5 years, the only time they didn't make it being in 2019. Every year of the 3 seasons prior, they won that series, as they made the world series every season, winning in 2020 and coming up short in 2017 and 2018.
Bellinger said of his big hit in the 9th inning that "I learned a lot from the season, and now it’s the postseason. Just keep having faith in myself and just keep staying in the moment and doing everything that I can to help this team win."
The game remained scoreless until the 6th inning, when an RBI double from Seager scored Mookie Betts and gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead later in the game. In the bottom half, Darin Ruf cranked a solo home run to center field, tying the game while getting the Giants some momentum. In the 9th, with two runners on, Bellinger singled home Justin Turner to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead late.
Instead of starting Julio Urias, the Dodgers shifted to Corey Knebel as an opener, and he delivered the inning necessary at the start of the game. Brusdar Graterol followed that up with a scoreless inning of his own before Urias came in to start the 3rd, allowing one run on 3 hits, walking no one and striking out 5 hitters. After Blake Treinen finished the 7th, Kenley Jansen got the win while working the 8th inning, and Max Scherzer came out of the bullpen in the 9th to get his first save, sealing the win.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said "The Giants are an incredible team, talented one through 26. We knew it was going to be a tough series, but I don’t think we appreciated the full extent of it until living it. Obviously we feel really good about being on the side of it that we were, but we appreciate how razor-thin the margins were."
Camilo Doval got the loss for the Giants, giving up the RBI to Bellinger in the 9th inning, falling to 0-1 this postseason. Logan Webb provided 7 brilliant innings for the Giants, getting a no decision after giving up one run on 4 hits and one walk, fanning 7 hitters. Tyler Rogers and Kevin Gausman also pitched in relief.
Giants catcher Buster Posey said of being eliminated that "I think everybody in that locker room can hold their head high. From day one, it was giving everything you had in your preparation and all the way to the finish. I know I’ve been a part of a run like this to where it seemed like the last month of the season was playoff games. We played a tight game to finish here; obviously, we would have rather come out on the other side, but I’m happy it ended up being a tight game and coming down to the wire."
The Dodgers travel east to face the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, while the Giants remain at home for a longer winter than anticipated.
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