Having endured a subpar outing from Max Scherzer, the Los Angeles Dodgers were on the verge of falling three games back of the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.
The San Diego Padres held a 9-5 lead and the Dodgers were down their final nine outs of the game. Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run that in the immediate injected some life back into the team and ultimately served as a springboard.
After David Price quickly worked his way through the top of the eighth inning, Max Muncy and AJ Pollock combined for back-to-back home runs. Two batters later Cody Bellinger tied the game with a line-drive homer to right field.
Bellinger began the night on the bench and entered in the sixth inning when Gavin Lux needed to come out after crashing into the fence in center field.
Pollock is ready for the postseason 👊 pic.twitter.com/s789DikagE
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 30, 2021
MOOKIE? YARD.
MAX? YARD.
AJ? YARD.
CODY? YARD. pic.twitter.com/l8bNcAmMgk— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 30, 2021
ABSOLUTE CHILLS. pic.twitter.com/zJVPiIbbMf
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 30, 2021
Justin Turner kept the rally alive with a pinch-hit double and Corey Seager punctuated it with a game-winning two-run home run.
The Dodgers’ comeback elicited comparisons to the famed ‘4+1’ game from the 2006 season. That featured a long ball from Nomar Garciaparra, who was working as an analyst on Wednesday night and referred the dramatic win as the ‘1+4’ game.
“I’ve seen a similar script before,” Garciaparra said during the broadcast. Bellinger referred to the inning as “maybe the craziest” he’s played in.
Prior to their 11-9 victory against the Padres, the last time the Dodgers hit four home runs in one inning was Sept. 5, 2016, with Joc Pederson, Seager, Turner and Yasmani Grandal combining to do so.
Dodgers bail out Scherzer
Coming off a rough outing against the Colorado Rockies, Scherzer struggled and only managed to get through 5.1 innings. He allowed six runs (five earned) on a season-high 11 hits, yet the Dodgers remained undefeated in his starts.
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