Dodgers are dancing
Bellinger HR sends Los Angeles to third World Series in 4 years
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated as Cody Bellinger’s drive soared deep into the Texas night. Bellinger flung his bat off to the side and strutted up the first-base line.
All the way to the World Series.
Bellinger hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning, and the Dodgers advanced to the Fall Classic for the third time in four years by topping the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series on Sunday night.
Bellinger connected an inning after Kiké Hernández became the first pinch hitter with a game-tying or go-ahead homer in a winner-take-all-game. His homer tied it at 3 and, like Bellinger’s, came on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
The Dodgers, who
last night. I heard it was real grainy, real old clips.”
Murray has quickly matured into a productive NFL quarterback less than two years after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. He’s thrived in big moments throughout his career and certainly has good memories at AT&T Stadium, where he has a 6-0 record as a starter, including three high school state championships and a Big 12 championship.
Monday will be another big moment. Growing up in football-crazy Texas, he’s used to them.
“Ever since I was a kid, peewee, whole field sur
rounded whenever we played games and stuff like that,” Murray said. “So it was something I was used to, something that I always wanted to be a part of, to be that guy on the field and have everybody watching our team.”
One reason Kingsbury was so excited to draft Murray in 2019 was the knowledge of his Texas background and how he thrived in pressure-packed environments. The coach said Murray was already drawing rave reviews by his freshman year of high school and lived up to the hype, especially during big moments at AT&T Stadium.
“He obviously likes that stadium and has had a lot of success there,” Kingsbury said. “This is what he’s worked hard for his entire life, to have moments like this, and I know he’s excited to go out there and try to put his best foot forward.”
The Cowboys have plenty of Texas-grown talent as well. Dalton – who started for Cincinnati for nine seasons before coming to Dallas – is a Houston-area native who played in college a few miles from AT&T Stadium at TCU.
Kingsbury doesn’t expect the Dallas offense to be any less difficult to stop with Dalton under center.
“A Pro Bowl-caliber player, we faced him last year when he was at Cincinnati, he had a heck of a game and he’s got great weapons,” Kingsbury said. “He’s been a tremendous player in this league for a long time and it’s going to be a huge challenge trying to slow that offense down.”
It’ll also be the “MNF” debut for Cowboys rookie receiver CeeDee Lamb, who played high school football in Richmond, Texas, before teaming with Murray at Oklahoma.
Lamb’s caught 29 passes for 433 yards and two touchdowns in his first five NFL games. Murray called Lamb “a natural” and isn’t surprised he’s having so much success early in his career.
“We had a lot of success together, a lot of great times,” Murray said. “That’s my boy on and off the field. Wish him nothing but the best, but this weekend he’s on the other side.”
Lamb said the feeling is mutual.
“I mean, that’s my broth
er at the end of the day,” Lamb said. “We went to college together. Had great memories and we’re living out our dream that we’re
going through now. Somebody’s got to come out with an ‘L.’ I’m not planning on it being us.”