Game 5 of the National League Division Series between two teams many consider the best in baseball went down to the wire until Cody Bellinger delivered for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants nearly made the Dodgers pay for going the route of an opener, but Darin Ruf’s drive to right-center field was caught on the warning track. Buster Posey then jumped on the first pitch he saw and hit a double off the brick wall.
Corey Knebel struck out Brandon Crawford to escape the small jam, and Brusdar Graterol left two on base in the second inning. Julio Urias began warming up once Graterol faced some traffic, but he didn’t end up entering until the third.
Just as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expected, Julio Urias didn’t appear fazed by the change in pitching plans and kept the Giants at bay until his offense could generate just enough traction against Logan Webb.
Through five innings, Betts was 2-for-2 but the rest of the lineup was a combined 0-for-14 with one walk. Betts continued to swing a hot bat in the sixth as he pulled a third single into left field and promptly stole second base.
Corey Seager then went with a changeup low and away for an RBI flare double down the left-field line to break up the scoreless tie.
But the Dodgers’ lead was short lived as Ruf let out some frustration after two deep fly ball outs and drove a game-tying leadoff home run well over the fence in center field in the bottom of the sixth inning. It marked the first time in their NLDS matchup that the trailing team came back to tie a game.
It remained that way until lights-out closer Camilo Doval started a rally for the Dodgers by hitting Justin Turner with a pitch to put the go-ahead run on base with one out in the ninth inning.
Gavin Lux followed with a base hit, and Bellinger wiped out what has been a trying year with a game-winning single.
Scherzer saves Dodgers
After using Kenley Jansen to keep the game tied in the eighth inning, the Dodgers turned to Max Scherzer for the save. While it was arguably necessary to get the win, L.A. now is without a clear-cut starter for Game 1 of the NL Championship Series on Saturday.
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