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LOS ANGELES – Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer late in the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 Wednesday night in the National League Wild Card Game.
The 106-winning Dodgers advanced to a best-of-five divisional streak against NL West champions the San Francisco Giants, who won 107 games to barely fend off rivals Los Angeles for the division title. Game 1 will take place Friday night in San Francisco.
“It’s going to be fun. Yeah, two of the best regular season records of all time. We’ve been fighting all year so I’m expecting a tough streak,” Taylor said.
On Wednesday, the sold-out crowd of 53,193 at Dodger Stadium hung over every pitch as the tension of a draw built from the fourth inning. Fans waved blue napkins, vainly urging the few balls thrown into the outfield only to see them caught in a win-all clash between two of the NL’s most legendary and successful franchises.
Cody Bellinger walked twice from TJ McFarland and stole second in ninth, as most fans stood, waiting to see if the defending World Series champions could clinch a victory. Alex Reyes came to face Taylor, who sent a 2-1 ball into the left-field flag, triggering an explosion of cheers.
“Honestly, I was just trying to hit a single. I wasn’t trying to overdo it,” Taylor said after hitting the Dodgers’ fourth homer in playoff history. “And he gave me a good slider to hit, and I was able to get him up in the air.”
Tommy Edman dropped a one-out single against closest Kenley Jansen in the start of the ninth and stole the second. Paul Goldschmidt took a third called-up hit, and Tyler O’Neill came down swinging to end the threat.
Both teams had runners in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but couldn’t push a run.
St. Louis finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, failing 11 overall.
St. Louis dueling aces Adam Wainwright and Dodgers Max Scherzer struggled with their control early in the second win-win game in playoff history with two starting pitchers aged 37 or older. Wainwright is 40 years old; Scherzer is 37 years old.
They walked two each in the first three innings. Scherzer’s wild pitch led to a run in the first, and he hit Harrison Bader in the fourth.
Justin Turner tied at 1 in the fourth on a solo starting shot in the Dodgers’ box on the left. It was the first Wainwright homer to give up a curveball in the playoffs. Turner’s 13 playoff home runs are the biggest in Dodgers history.
St. Louis was leading 1-0 when Edman scored on Scherzer’s wild field. Edman scored the first goal, stole the second and took the third when O’Neill fouled on the right.
Scherzer started with a fifth out after giving up a start single to Edman and a goal to Goldschmidt. The pitcher paced the canoe with his hands on his hips. Former Cardinal Joe Kelly came out of the jam after Goldschmidt reached third place on Kelly’s wild pitch.
Scherzer allowed one run and three hits, struck out four and scored three goals against his hometown team.
Wainwright allowed one run and four hits in 5 ”. He took out five and walked two.
The Dodgers had Wainwright on the ropes in the third, charging up the bases with one putout. It was only one ball away from stepping into the tying point, before Trea Turner broke his bat by sinking into a late-inning double play on a 3-2 pitch.
FOLLOWING
Cardinals: The pitchers and receivers show up for spring training in mid-February.
Dodgers: Open the best of five NLDS in San Francisco on Friday. They were 9-10 against the Giants this season.
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