On April 21, 2018, the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a thrilling victory and secured a series win against the Milwaukee Brewers thanks in large part to the heroics of Cody Bellinger. The performance, some of which came at the expense of Christian Yelich, set the tone early for an MVP season.
After the Dodgers took two of the first three games at Miller Park, they were immediately staked a lead in the series finale behind Joc Pederson’s leadoff home run. Pederson, celebrating a birthday, then clubbed a second homer of the day in the fifth inning to put the Dodgers ahead 5-0.
To that point Bellinger had contributed with an RBI single in both the first and second innings. Clayton Kershaw surrendered a two-run home run to Lorenzo Cain in the fifth and exited with a 5-2 lead after six innings.
After a scoreless inning from Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez was next who was tabbed with getting the ball to Kenley Jansen. Yelich, who had already hit four home runs in the previous three games, led off the bottom of the eighth.
He connected on a deep drive to right-center field that appeared to have enough carry for a solo homer. However, Bellinger tracked the flight of the ball the entire way and made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Yelich of what would have been his MLB-leading 14th home run of the season.
On top of making a highlight-reel play, Bellinger potentially saved the Dodgers from facing a deficit by the time the eighth inning came to a close. Jansen inherited a pair of baserunners when he took over for Baez as he looked to complete a four-out save.
That looked to be thwarted when Eric Thames connected on a three-run homer to tie the game. With momentum on their side, Milwaukee deployed vaunted closer Josh Hader in the ninth inning.
He struck out Corey Seager and Justin Turner to begin the frame. But then Bellinger stepped up to the plate and drilled a fastball well into right field for a game-winning home run. Bellinger’s blast was only the second home run Hader had allowed to a left-handed batter in his career.
Jansen returned to the mound for the bottom of the ninth, striking out the side to clinch a series win. Bellinger finished the afternoon with three hits in four at-bats, a walk, a run scored and three RBI.
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