Wild Card game vs Cards

Oct 6: Win or go home! Dodgers going with a 1-game roster of only 10 pitchers and 16 position players. They added a bunch of minor leaguers and left off pitchers Buehler, Price and Bruihl. Dodgers get a huge walkoff win! One mistake would have ended the game and the season — for one of the teams. Thankfully the Dodgers didn’t blink: the bullpen shut out the Cards.

Pitching: Scherzer starts for the Dodgers, and has a challenging 1st: leadoff scratch hit, stolen base (not held on, and lousy throw by Smith), walk, fly foul out to Betts, runner tagging to 3B, and then scores on a WP (crap!). Fortunately Dodgers got out of that mess with only the 1 run. Max creates another mess by walking the #8 hitter, bunted over to 2B (Max went to a full count first). But a fly out ends it. Still 1-0. 3rd leadoff hit by Goldy on a full count cookie, then a K on a slider. Force out at 2B on a good play by Beaty, then another good play by Beaty to snag a grounder to end it. Still 1-0. 4th is nearly clean for Maxx, with only a HBP. 5th, with Max at a high pitch count over 80, suffers a broken bat doinker by leadoff hitter again. Walk to Goldy, so 2 on. great K on cheese. Now — oh no — Roberts pulls Scherzer (94 pitches)! You can’t be serious! This move will be heavily criticized. Kelly in, and gets Arrenado to bounce to JT for a force at 3B. Count full, Kelly gets a swing and miss on a slow curve to save the inning at 1-1. 5th out in order, including K’s by Belli and PH Raley (what a waste of an AB). 6th is clean save a HBP for Graterol. 7th is top of order so we get Treinen, who allows a runner to reach 2B, but gets Arrenado to popup foul. Still 1-1. 8th Treinen still in. Leadoff hit beats the shift. Fly ball caught starts an appeal play: looked like the runner failed to re-touch 2B returning to 1B, but appeal denied. Another soft liner to LFx is caught on a diving catch by CT3 for 2nd out. Knebel relieves and K’s on a nasty curve to end the 8th. Jansen gives up yet another leadoff hit to Pesky Edman, who of course steals 2B (bad combo of Jansen slow to the plate and Smith bad throws) — representing go ahead run. Kenley strikes out the side to end the big drama!

Mookie leadoff hit (looked like maybe an error). Seager K looking (swing!) Trea liner at SS who drops it at his toes and gets force at 2B. Trea should run! JT lines one flagged by pitcher. 3 hard hit balls with nothing to show (rats!). 1-0 Cards. Smith leadoff hard grounder up the middle turned into another out (ugh!). AJ pops up. Beaty warning track fly out. 3rd leadoff walk to Belli, sac bunt to 2B. Mookie a looping liner knocked down for a hit — 1st and 2nd 1 out. Seager walk to load bases for Trea. Count full, Trea reaches for an outside curve and hits it — oh no — right to 2B for a DP (ugh!). The only place he could hit into a DP. No runs! Still 1-0. JT leads off the 4th with — hold it — a big blast deep into the LF bullpen to tie the game at 1! Smith and AJ K, Beaty pops up. 6th no runs. 7th Beaty hits into shift for out. Belli gets a hit! CT3 (double switched in for AJ) pops up. Belli steals 2B. Mookie flies out to end it. Seager leads off the 8th and K swinging. Yay Trea singles sharply. JT chases the bait for a K. Will ropes it over the SS head but he leaps and snags it (pooh!). And we go to the 9th tied at 1. Somebody please hit a walkoff! Pujols for the leadoff PH smacks a 3-0 at-em laser for 1st out. Back to back PH with Sousa, same at-em out to CF. Belli is our last chance to end it, and he walks, steals 2B. Up comes CT3, who takes some pitches to let Belli steal. and then … OMG a long fly to deep LF, way back and gone! A walkoff HR by CT3! Yay Dodgers! Now on to San Francisco to take on the Giants.