Taylor HR a ‘grand’ door-slam
CHICAGO — The opportunity has been there for Michael A. Taylor. A highly regarded prospect who was drafted in 2009 (the same year one Stephen Strasburg was the No. 1 overall pick), Taylor had a shot two years ago when Denard Span got hurt. He got another chance last year when Ben Revere got hurt. Let’s just say both experiences left Taylor looking for another chance.
And all that made him not the No. 1 choice to hit the first grand slam in Nationals playoff history.
But that was what Taylor became Wednesday. The Cubs made a pitching change on a 1-0 count with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and brought in closer Wade Davis to face Taylor with the game still in doubt. It wasn’t in doubt for long. “I didn’t think any righthanded hitter could hit that ball out of the ballpark like he did tonight,” Washington manager Dusty Baker said of Taylor who, amid the miserable weather at Wrigley Field, slugged the second pitch from Davis into the basket just above the wall in right field to provide the 5-0 score the Nationals used to tie the NLDS at 2-2 and force Game 5 on Thursday in Washington.
“Leading up to it, I felt pretty good on the ball I fouled off,” Taylor said. “The at-bat before [a strikeout], I kind of got caught thinking with the pitcher, guessing a little bit. So I tried to stick with my approach right there and just get another pitch out over [the plate].
“And then afterwards, I was kind of numb, just running around the bases. Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to get out the way the wind was blowing in.”
Taylor was one at-bat shy of 400 this season, but slugged 19 homers, showing his hot-prospect status was for real, despite the ups and downs.
“Mikey is such a great person. He’s a great teammate and he does all the little things,” Strasburg said. “He works really hard. And you know, we got drafted the same year. He got drafted as a shortstop. So I met him pretty early on in our career.
“To see him coming out a center fielder and develop and make it to the big leagues, and deal with the ups and downs and get to this position and hit a grand slam like that, that’s pretty cool.”