Big comebacks, blown saves and incredible plays, this is what postseason baseball is all about and viewers weren’t disappointed with another fantastic baseball game Thursday night.
After a 6-5 win Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers evened the series at 2-2 to force a Game 5 in the winner-take-all format against the Washington Nationals Thursday night.
Down 1-0 in the top of the seventh, the Dodgers scored four runs — led by Joc Pederson’s solo home run shot to left field — before holding on for a dramatic 4-3 victory on the road. With the win, the Dodgers will play the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in Game 1 of the NLCS.
The inning that changed it all. ? #LALovesOctober pic.twitter.com/tdRNIJtGlc
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 14, 2016
The Nationals got to within a run in the bottom of the seventh as Chris Heisey hit a two-run homer. Fans got to witness history as Heisey became the first Nationals player in the playoffs to hit a pinch-hit home run.
But then entered Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the ninth with two men on and just out. Despite pitching on just a day of rest after an 110-pitch, 11-strikeout performance Tuesday, Kershaw got Daniel Murphy — one of the top hitters in the league this year —to pop-up and then followed it up by striking out Wilmer Difo who got caught swinging at a pitch in the dirt for the final out of the game.
The curse lives on: Washington is one-and-done in the playoffs once again. After winning their third NL East title in the past five years, the Nationals followed it up by bowing out early in the playoffs. In fact, the the nation’s capital team hasn’t won a postseason series since 1924.
