Bellinger walks it off in 13th to pull Dodgers level with Brewers
LOS ANGELES: Cody Bellinger singled in the winning run with two outs in the 13th inning on Tuesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers levelled baseball’s National League Championship Series with a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
In a game that had been tied at 1-1 since the fifth inning, Bellinger lined a 3-2 slider from Milwaukee relief pitcher Junior Guerra into right field, allowing shortstop Manny Machado to score from second base.
“Honestly, I was surprised that they were throwing me,” Bellinger said. “I thought they would pitch around me and get me to swing. Once I saw they were attacking me, it was just kind of grind mode and do what you can to put the ball in play and try to end this game.”
Machado, who had singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, barely beat Brewers’ right fielder Christian Yelich’s throw to home.
“As soon as that ball was hit I just put my head down — trying to pick up the ball at the end and try to sneak in there,” said Machado, who didn’t see his teammates already heading onto the field to celebrate after he rounded third.
The Dodgers, seeking to return to the World Series after falling in seven games to the Houston Astros last year, knotted the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
They host Game Five early this morning, Thai time, with ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw taking the mound.
The winners of the series will take on either the reigning World Series champions Astros or the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball’s championship showcase.
The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the American League Championship Series on Tuesday with an 8-2 triumph in Houston sealed by Jackie Bradley Jr’s eighth-inning grand slam.
The Dodgers, facing the prospect of falling into a 1-3 hole with a defeat, got off to a promising start with a run in the first inning, when Brian Dozier’s single scored Chris Taylor.
The Brewers, whose only prior World Series appearance was a loss to St Louis in 1982, knotted the score in the fifth inning when pinch-hitter Domingo Santana lined a double to right field and Orlando Arcia raced around from first to make it 1-1.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities to end it, but the Brewers went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and the Dodgers were 2-for-10.
Both teams ran out of position players and the Dodgers, after five solid innings from starting pitcher Rich Hill, used every relief pitcher they had to eke out the victory.
The tension was evident when the benches cleared in the 10th, with Machado sparking the incident when he grounded out to short with one out.
As he crossed the bag behind Milwaukee first baseman Jesus Aguilar, Machado dragged one foot over the foot Aguilar had stretched out behind him touching the base.
Aguilar took exception and the two traded words. More players briefly piled out of the dugouts but there were no ejections.
Bradley was the star in Houston as the Red Sox put the game out of reach with five runs in the top of the eighth — four of them on Bradley’s grand slam to right field off a pitch from reliever Roberto Osuna.
“It’s huge,” Bradley said. “We’re playing a really good team in Houston. We never feel like enough runs is going to be enough. So it was very, very special for us.”