DODGERS EVEN SERIES
Bellinger’s two-out single in the 13th inning scores Machado and evens series
Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor, left, slides in front of Cody Bellinger to make a catch. Bellinger’s single in the 13th inning lifted the Dodgers over the Brewers 2-1, tying the series at two games apiece.
The tension and the tedium of a tied playoff game were heightened by an incident at first base in the 10th inning Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. The source of the scuffle was not hard to discern: Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado clipped the leg of Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar while running through the bag on a groundout.
An explanation for Machado’s actions was more difficult to find. It was one of several questions left unanswered as Game 4 of the National League Championship Series drifted into extra innings.
Machado would be part of the answer three innings later when he scored from second on Cody Bellinger’s two-out single for a 2-1 victory that evened the series at two games apiece.
Julio Urias pitched the 13th inning to earn the victory. Clayton Kershaw pitches Game 5 Wednesday afternoon.
Aguilar did not appreciate the run-in with Machado. The benches and bullpens emptied. No fisticuffs occurred, merely another interruption on a marathon night at the ballpark.
Neither club appeared capable of ending the affair. Both teams ran out of posi-
tion players. An unorthodox pitcher’s duel morphed into an endless slog.
After watching Walker Buehler misfire in Monday’s seventh inning, manager Dave Roberts held the reins tight on Rich Hill. Hill gave up one run in five innings, departing with six strikeouts and 71 pitches on his tab. He exited with the game tied at one, his teammates searching for traction against the Milwaukee bullpen.
The Brewers opened the game with Gio Gonzalez. He had lasted two innings in Game 1. An ankle injury limited his appearance Tuesday to only one inning. From there, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell rode his crop of hard-throwing relievers.
Hill zipped through a ninepitch first inning. The frame ended with a fly ball in Enrique Hernandez’s glove in center field. The crowd burst into applause as he secured the third out, with the fans showing no lingering resentment after Hernandez mentioned their lack of energy in Game 3.
The Dodgers hoped to manufacture their own enthusiasm on Tuesday: Joc Pederson waved a rally towel from the dugout as his team played the field.
Pederson was whipping the laundry around as the Dodgers produced a run in the first inning off Gonzalez. Gonzalez has never had a steady relationship with the strike zone. He fell behind often, walking Chris Taylor and clipping David Freese with a 3-0 pitch. Brian Dozier cracked a single into left field to score Taylor and hand Hill the lead. Hernandez flied out to leave two batters aboard.
Gonzalez exited in the second inning. He rolled his left ankle trying to field a comebacker from Yasiel Puig. He attempted to stay in the game, but limped off the field after one pitch to Austin Barnes. Freddy Peralta became the first reliever out of Milwaukee’s bullpen. He was far from the last.
The Dodgers stressed Peralta but fumbled away a chance to score. After a walk by Barnes, Justin Turner loaded the bases with a two-out walk. Roberts opted for aggression, pinch-hitting Max Muncy for Freese. The Dodgers use Freese as their primary first baseman against left-handed pitchers like Gonzalez. Muncy was the choice for a right-hander like Peralta.
The decision ended Freese’s night. It did not result in a run. Muncy fouled off a 1-1 fastball down the middle. When Peralta ramped his heater up to 95 mph for the next pitch, Muncy took it for strike three. Only two innings had passed, and already the Dodgers had stranded five runners.
The offense made a modicum of progress in the third: They left only one runner on the bases. Dozier walked and swiped second. Peralta recovered to freeze Hernandez with a curveball and do the same to Puig with a 96-mph fastball.
Hill issued three walks in the first three innings. But he did not yield a hit until Aguilar lined a single to start the fourth. Hill devised a tidy escape. He fanned third baseman Mike Moustakas with a curveball. When Turner and Dozier turned a double play on a grounder from second baseman Jonathan Schoop, Hill pumped his fist and saluted his third baseman.
The Brewers broke through against Hill in the fifth. The catalyst was light-hitting shortstop Orlando Arcia, a thorn in the Dodgers’ side with a pair of homers earlier in the series. In the fifth he slapped a single up the middle, setting the table for pinch-hitter Domingo Santana.
A 1-2 curveball from Hill swept over the plate. Santana smashed it into the right-center gap, out of Puig’s reach. Arcia jetted home, beating the relay throw from Machado to tie the game.
The lead was gone. But Hill protected the deadlock by striking out outfielder Christian Yelich to end the inning. The result still infuriated him, and so did his impending departure from the game. Hill grabbed a container full of HiChew and bashed it on the bench. As the candies scattered across the dugout, Hill punted the cooler.
The anger soon transferred to Machado. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Machado tried to call time as Brewers reliever Corbin Burnes prepared to deliver a 1-2 pitch. Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt declined to grant Machado the privilege. Machado stepped out of the box, only to see Burnes end the inning with a fastball over the plate. Roberts bounded out of his dugout to corral Machado as the player yelled at Wendelstedt.
Dozier was drilled by a pitch to start the sixth, but got thrown out trying to steal second. A leadoff single by Barnes in the seventh went nowhere.
Counsell chose left-handed relief ace Josh Hader for the eighth inning. He had collected two outs in Game 3, which limited his viability for Tuesday. Hader pitched on consecutive days only five times during the regular season, and Muncy cracked a leadoff single.
Hader did not buckle. He got the next two batters, overpowering Machado along the way. After Bellinger poked a single, Hader fanned pinch-hitter Matt Kemp with a 98mph fastball. The strikeout left runners at the corners and the Dodgers empty-handed.