Dodgers Win a Thrilling Game 7 and Move on to the World Series
The Dodgers and Braves fought all week long to get the National League Championship Series to Game 7. With World Series hopes on the line, both teams sent out rookie starters to battle it out. Los Angeles turned to Dustin May while Atlanta went with Ian Anderson.
Starting Pitching
The Dodgers did not have the luck that the Braves had in selecting their starting pitcher. After making a few appearances in the series, Dustin May was set to go just a few innings at most. He ended up going just 1 after a few walks and a base hit by Marcell Ozuna scored a run.
THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG!
The @Braves strike first in Game 7! pic.twitter.com/g4cknswPIb
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 19, 2020
Ian Anderson had a much different appearance. He pitched 2 shutout innings while working around traffic before giving up a pair of runs in the 3rd. That would be it for him as the Dodgers worked his pitch count all the way up to 73.
Dodgers Offense Slow to Start
As has been the case for many games during this series, the Dodgers offense came out of the starting gates very slowly. They plated a pair of runs in the 3rd inning after a Max Muncy double and a Will Smith single got them on the board.
TIE GAME. pic.twitter.com/evmHuiDblb
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2020
The Dodgers fell behind again when Austin Riley drove in a run in the 4th, but that would not last long. Kiké Hernandez came up to pinch-hit for Joc Pederson facing the southpaw Minter, and he made him pay.
KIKÉ, DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS. pic.twitter.com/NQaELWU3IA
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2020
The offensive play of the game came in the home-half of the 7th inning with the Dodgers floundering against Chris Martin. Cody Bellinger came up to the plate and battled before launching a solo shot to deep right to give Los Angeles the lead.
STRUT ON 'EM, CODY. pic.twitter.com/083UekW8sI
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2020
Defense Wins Championships
There were a few different defensive plays in this game that potentially turned the tide of the entire game. That could apply to both sides really, as both teams played amazing defense most of the game. For the Dodgers, Mookie Betts took everyone’s breath away once again, this time by robbing Freddie Freeman of a homerun.
MOOKIE AGAIN. pic.twitter.com/SlSttMLcVj
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2020
The Dodgers also turned a WILD double play in the 4th inning thanks to some baserunning mistakes by Atlanta. That set it up so that Los Angeles could easily escape what could have been a disaster.
WOW.
The Braves make a HUGE base running mistake and now there are 2 outs in the 4th! ? pic.twitter.com/7gmZGDw8PN
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 19, 2020
Julio Urias came in and pitched 3 pristine innings to shut this one down for the Dodgers. They win by a score of 4-3 and advance to the World Series. They will face off against the Tampa Bay Rays with Game 1 starting on Tuesday evening.
Dodgers: Mookie Betts Calls on a Kobe Bryant ‘Mamba Mentality’ in Big Game Situations
Best believe we are on our way to the World Series and this is our year!!! Congratulations, Dodgers and thank you!!! For those of us who believed (despite being down 3 to 1) that our boys would pull this off, do not waver in your belief as we move forward. This NLCS victory is proof positive that it is never over until its over. GO DODGERS!
Urias was phenomenal. Roberts must’ve told Friedman to shove it because he rode the hot hand instead of making a million moves
Yup. Best “non move” by Roberts leaving Julio in. Julio was dialed in.
Leaving Urias in the game to close it out was the best non-move Roberts has made in this postseason. We didn’t need a “closer” to come in. Urias has been outstanding in long relief this entire postseason, as well as in prior year postseasons. Urias was solid in the regular season despite some first inning issues. He has upped his game big time in the postseason.
I couldn’t agree more. Jansen may have pitched a 1-2-3 inning in game six, but that hasn’t been the norm for him in a long time. Urias was smoking the Braves and there was no need to pull him.
This was a very strange NLCS. Two losses in a row to start it, and three elimination wins in a row to finish it. It wasn’t what I expected. But now these guys are battle tested. They don’t roll over or give up. I think that experience will help them in the WS.
The Rays have done amazing things on a Chuck Finley, money ball budget. But the Dodgers are loaded physically and mentally. It will be tough to beat the drama of this NLCS, but it will be dramatic enough just to seal the deal with a world championship. Go Dodgers!
VICTORYYYYYYY!!!
LET’S GO DODGERS!!!!!
A great comeback by DODGERS just fantastic ! I am so glad for them I had told a friend the Dodgers many times the Dodgers have won 3 games in a row and they did it again against a hard fighting team being the ATLANTA BRAVES, It so mattered by Atlanta’s base running mistake but the best move was leaving URIAS in for those last innings, I shuttered went I thought Roberts was going to bring JANSEN in the game, no matter how good he did in the previous games, Scary !!! But all worked out well and thought may be given to a new closer in URIAS , just preparing him to make the adjustments for consistency ,Anyways the best to THE DODGERS in the World Series …..GO BLUE !!!!!!
I am not sure why Dave Roberts did not implement his usual multiple pitcher parade at the tail end of this game. It as if he read what I wrote on here yesterday “When you have a pitcher mowing down your opponents LEAVE HIM ALONE! They WANT you to take him out!”
Point is staying with Urias and letting him finish the deal kept the Braves at bay and enabled us to scrape by this game 7.
Hats off to Urias! Hats off to Kike! Hats off to Mookie!……….and Hats off to the Braves!
( and JT nice heads up baseball during that rundown!)
It was a good series. Go Dodgers!
What about a hats off to Cody?
The only thing better would be the Houston * as opponents. I believe this is the year of the Doyers. I moved to Tennessee 25 years ago or I would have been out cruisin’ Whittier Blvd.
Hats off to EVERY Dodgers’ player for getting us through those 3 elimination games. Every one of the guys brought something to help us advance, and several brought a whole lot of something. Regardless, getting us to the World Series was a team effort; both offense and defense showed up. Let’s do this tonight! Go Dodgers!!!