Russell Martin, Kiké Hernandez and Justin Turner combined to drive in the seven runs that propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a comeback win against the Washington Nationals in Game 3 of the 2019 National League Division Series, but it was Cody Bellinger who began to set the table.
Hitless heading into his at-bat in the sixth inning, Bellinger immediately fell behind in the count 0-2 to Patrick Corbin who had just entered for Anibal Sanchez. Bellinger went 0-for-1 with one strikeout and two walks against Corbin in Game 1.
On Sunday he laid off three consecutive pitches to work the count full, then fouled off a pair to stay alive. Bellinger then went down and got a slider to pull a leadoff single into right field — good for his first hit of the NLDS.
“I thought we did a great job and it started with Belli,” Turner said after the Dodgers’ 10-4 win. “He hasn’t had much success in the first two games, and he’s in there grinding, trying to get locked in and he wants to be that MVP guy for us that he’s been all year. And that at-bat kind of unlocked him.
“He got down 0-2 and then took some tough pitches, got the 3-2 count, fouled off a couple more tough pitches and found a way to get on there. And it just seemed like that kind of got the ball rolling.
“I felt like it took a lot of pressure off of guys and then it was quality at-bat after quality at-bat after that and next thing we know there’s seven runs on the board. So offense is definitely contagious and I think we all caught it that inning.”
The Dodgers set a franchise record with the seven runs scored in one inning of a postseason game, and additionally made MLB playoff history with each of those coming on counts with two strikes and two out.
Bellinger’s lack of production thus far in the postseason had become a talking point heading into Game 3. It was drawing comparisons to Bellinger’s futile showing last October and threatening to dampen what’s been an MVP-caliber year.
“For him to take that at-bat, line a base hit, and you saw throughout the night he took some really good swings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But certainly to get Corbin in there and to see Cody take that at-bat, to see a leadoff guy get on base I thought energized us a little bit.”
Although he was stranded, Bellinger came up for a second at-bat in the sixth inning and lined a double into right field.
Heading into the postseason, Roberts said the Dodgers needed Bellinger to revert back to his patient approach at the plate that was accompanied by punishing pitchers when they did enter the zone.
