Dodgers: An Ironic Finish to the NLDS Has Everyone Talking, Except Darin Ruf
When you have two 100+ win teams fighting to the very end in a 5-game series, there’s bound to be drama in every corner. There certainly was plenty of it, but how the Dodgers eventually won and secured a spot in the NLCS has everyone talking.
With an 0-2 count and two outs already in the books in the bottom of the 9th, Max Scherzer delivered a slider that caused Wilmer Flores to offer a check swing. However, first base umpire Gabe Morales declared that Flores had swung at the pitch and the game was over. Of course, Giants fans did not take it well.
Wilmer Flores and the check swing heard 'round the world. pic.twitter.com/nZWVre7U1v
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 15, 2021
Gabe Morales should be ashamed of himself making a call like that to end the NLDS.. that is trash. Nowhere near a swing.. Wilmer Flores was robbed there. Unbelievable. That’s sickening. Shouldn’t be there if he can’t handle the moment
— George Kontos (@G_Kontos) October 15, 2021
The a giants gave up 2 crucial hits to Gavin Lux and Cody Bellinger in the year 2021 but will cry about an ironic check swing call on Wilmer Flores who’s career 0-19 against Scherzer ?????weep
— ?? (@bellingersworId) October 15, 2021
However, many Dodger fans were keen on calling out the Darin Ruf check-swing back in July that led to the Giants tying up the game on a bases-loaded walk. That eventually lead to a San Francisco win. While it may be seen as just a regular-season game, that game was a big difference-maker in the division race as the Dodgers were 1 game behind.
Ironically enough, Ruf was asked about the way the Giants season ended after the game.
“Obviously being able to see the replay – it didn’t look like he went but a checked swing earlier in the year helped us out too. It’s kind of funny how it comes down to these two events.”
Ruf, who was once a Dodger, was honest enough to admit the help he received help back in July. His swing surely cost the Dodgers a win, just as the Flores’ call robbed the Giants of a true fighting chance. Then again, Wilmer Flores had not had much success against Max Scherzer in the past and may have very well been the last out anyways. Still, it’s an unfortunate way to have a historic season end.
Payback is such a bi$ch. Max would have struck him out anyways.
A “Ruf ball” and “Flores swing”… Karma was definitely at work; but, I agree Max would have (more than probably) struck Flores out anyways.
Yeah, I guess in hind sight, the Giants won the NL West based on a crappy call and you didn’t hear them complain about it. So, would the Giants exchange that “win” and give the Dodgers the NL West title in exchange for Wilmer Flores’ check swing call? HAH!
Can’t have it both ways, Giants!!!
Shortsidedness on their part. I’ll take the playoffs win…
“The baseball gods (the umps) giveth and they taketh away…” Ironic justice perhaps for a similar blown check swing call in July that benefitted the Giants that led to a Dodger loss. Nonetheless, after the game Giants’ Dave Kapler admitted that they may have been disappointed with “how the game ended”—but implied that there were other factors that contributed to their loss. Indeed, in this 5 game series the Dodgers hitting and pitching were better than the Giants resulting in an 18-10 run Dodgers edge. And as this article pointed out—it was unlikely that Flores who was 0-19 against Scherzer would have fared any better against Scherzer when the momentum of the game after the Belli RBI swung in the Dodgers favor.
Kapler handled his post game interview with class.
Very much so. I gained a lot of respect for that.
Poetic Justice. Anyone watching the game last night knew that after Belli’s hit, the momentum was the Dodgers. The air was sucked right out of Oracle Park. Although Flores could have got a base hit or hit a walk off homerun against Scherzer with 2 strikes, the likelihood (with Flores’ 0-19 against Scherzer) was close to nil. Regardless, we will never know. What we do know is that the Giants lost and our Dodgers move on. I suggest that the Giants and their fanbase do the same.
POETIC JUSTICE!
Now baseball absolutely must give us Dodgers vs The Cheaters part two and a 4 game Dodger sweep! It’s the only way to right the greatest travesty in baseball history!!!!
I give Ruf a lot of credit and respect for his answer. #RepeatLA
Please give Kapler some props as well, He handled the questions with CLASS, CLASS, CLASS after the game in his post game questioning, Most times these types of things somehow work themselves out over the course of a season. Also, Webb deserves a ton of credit. GREAT GAME, BUT DAMN NEAR GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK. GO BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!
The baseball gods are alive and well and Tommy Lasorda manifested himself as the first base umpire.
Love this comment!
Even I was surprised that he called it a swing.
That was by far the greatest win I’ve ever witnessed as a Dodgers fan. It was against the pompous Vagiants, in their little wiffle ball park. The cheating Bonds and the entire faculty of Cheaters were taken down by their hated rivals. The Dodgers beat them in their place, then took their team picture on their field!!!!!!! that was incredible, and we’ll never see anything like it again. Simply GREAT!!!!!!! Take that Vagiants!!!! Go Dodgers!!!!!1
If the Dodgers win the World Series they will as a wildcard team. They were predicted to win between 105-120 games this year without Turner & Scherzer. The Giants were thought to be a 75 win team at best. You look at each team and the Dodgers overwhelming at all-stars at every position. The Dodgers were expected to win and the Giants with their rag team were not. When you have close to a 300 million dollar payroll you should win.
Tell that to the Yankees.
Lol, EXACTLY! Best teams don’t always win. 1960 Pirates over the Yankees comes to mind. But there are dozens upon dozens of such examples.
Yes, if the Dodgers win the 2021 World Series they will win as a team that got into the postseason after winning a Wildcard game. The Giants certainly won the World Series doing so TWICE with a lot less regular season wins than the Dodgers. Because the Giants lost to the Dodgers, the “narrative” is not now going to be that a Dodgers 2021 World Series win would somehow be less valid because the Dodgers got into the postseason via a WC win. The Dodgers won 106 games during the regular season, which is 1 game less than the Giants. The “rag team”, to the surprise of all analysts and logic, won more games than any other MLB team. If the Dodgers’ $300 million dollar payroll explains the Dodgers success, how do you explain the sudden synchronous, power and home run hitting, success throughout the Giants’ lineup? Anyways,
Congratulations AND “REPEAT LA!!!”
I’ll do it!!! They were juicing!!! Their organization apparently doesn’t have a problem supporting the greatest juicer of all time!!! Bonds!!! The Vagiants will never do that again. Juicers bodies always break down, and take a look at what happened to Pagan-Belt-Pentz and their pitching after the 2014 season. The Vagiants lost in their own wiffle ball park, to these Dodgers——— Take that Cheaters!!!!!! Go Dodgers!!!!!!
Ain’t that the truth!
2 strikes 2 outs with a 0.91 hitter, the game was likely over there anyway but still a horrific call. I’ll gladly take it for all the breaks the giants had this year including a check swing call going in their favor in July. We got our break in the postseason
No game should end that way. Especially with the gravity of the situation
Sal, that is simply aesthetics! Flores was 0-19 vs Mad Max…he was out the minute he stepped into the batters box!
Some pitcher vs batter match-ups are very skewed. For example, Kike Hernandez, a career .240 batter, had a lifetime .500 average vs Madison Bumgarner over fairly good sample size. Some guys just see certain pitchers well and vice versa.
Maybe the Giants fans believed that Flores would overcome that 0-19 against Scherzer and (barely swinging) hit a walk off HR. I mean this is what they were accustomed to seeing this season. Sorry, this game was over when Flores took the mound. Now on to Atlanta. REPEAT LA!!!
To Giants fans…maybe you should have scored more runs lol. But nice season. 😉
The giants won the western division to their credit, much of which goes to their coaching and manager. However, we won the crucial game! They should look to their caps and realize the SF actually stands for Seasons Finished!
Sorry I have to interject…Giants fan here..For those who say “it’s even” because of that controversial Ruf check-swing game, Ruf should have walked a run in before ever having the chance to get that check-swing called a ball. Check the pitches on your MLB app. July 22nd. Even if he was called out….we would have been tied in the end of the season, done a tiebreaker, someone would go to wildcard…Dodgers still came out on top after the Wildcard and that one game didn’t change their possible outcome to get to the NLDS.
Congrats to the Dodgers! Their pitching killed us in the end.