LOS ANGELES -- After Chris Taylor of Los Angeles hit his third homer in the seventh inning, the Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker sat down in his dugout chair, and stared unblinking at a random spot in the Dodger Stadium fieldfield. His reaction to what was happening in front of him and the resulting events seemed unrelated. His expression was absent and his body seemed to be in a state of torpor. He could only fix his eyes and remain stock-still to convince himself that none of this was actually happening. If that fails, it's at least that it was happening somewhere else.
These are the questions. Here comes the uncertainty. These are the Dodgers.
The National League Championship Series will have a Game 6, and it will feel like one after the Dodgers' win 11-2. It will likely be Game 7. It seems that these things happen this way. Who knows why? Now that the Dodgers have won seven consecutive elimination games in the last two postseasons it is reasonable to wonder if they created these worst-case scenarios just to get out.
"I mean we definitely don’t prefer elimination games," stated outfielder AJ Pollock. He hit two homers in order to set up at least one more. "We want other teams to be eliminated."
It all feels kind of stupid, honestly. Snitker watched as the man who had been hitting.111 since Aug. 27, hit his third home run of this game from the dugout. It's dumb that this series is returning to Atlanta after the Dodgers played like amateurs for the majority of the four games. It's dumb that the Braves could not even fight the Dodgers in Game 5, with their pitching staff down and claws and Max Fried, Atlanta's fully rested pitching ace, pitching for Atlanta. And dumb that the Dodgers hitters were so bad all series, that they lost Justin Turner in Game 4. Then, the Dodgers came back the next night and scored 17 runs, five homers
Dave Roberts, Dodgers manager, said that he didn't know how to explain the situation. "I'm glad it happened tonight. ... It's... In truth, I'm content to give you guys a series. I was expecting our guys to fight, scratch, and claw. I was wrong.
Last year's Braves were in Atlanta, leading by three games to one at the NLCS. They then lost three straight to finish their season. Atlanta's history of grand failure is so woven that an Atlanta reporter even included a "28-3” reference in a postgame question for Freddie Freeman.
Freeman stated, "That's going be the narrative," with a touch of resignation but no defeat. It's been brought up over the past few days so I don’t believe we have any choice but to kill that narrative. We are up 3-2 heading home. It's a fantastic position to be in. We'll be fine, I think."
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Roberts, along with a group of Dodgers players, took it in turns to audition descriptions of Taylor's unique personality. All of them praised his ability to simultaneously play baseball while shifting his brain into neutral. Roberts said, "He's just here," and Pollock revealed that Taylor is passionate about surfing videos and beer.
Pollock stated, "He's no big guy for the drama."
After his third homer, he took a curtain-call. His teammates had told him that all the cheering and the "CT3" chant (which, frankly, doesn't roll off the tongue) were meant to get him to do that. He did a quick run through the radio and television interviews after the game. Any emotion or jubilation that had built up in his body had evidently dissipated by the time he got to the interview room. Taylor answered a question about what he was thinking when he went to the plate in the eighth inning with the chance to hit his fourth homer.
After Kenley Jansen had recorded the final out of the game, Taylor ran across the infield to hug Albert Pujols. This was at least the fourth time that Taylor had done so. The Braves walked toward their clubhouse determined to prove that they can win one of the two remaining positions.
The series' complexion changed in mysterious ways over the nine previous innings. Losing players by the Dodgers is like playing an arcade game. In Game 4, Turner was the winner, and Joe Kelly was the loser in Game 5. Kelly was the Dodgers' opening pitcher. He threw 28 pitches, one of which Freeman hit against the center-field wall to give Braves a 2-0 lead. His deliberation bordered on obsessive. Kelly was left with two outs and Adam Duvall scoring a run on a 2-2 count. Roberts stated that Kelly's season would be over because of a biceps injury.
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Robert stated, "Same thing with Justin, Same with Max [Muncy], but we're just going have to figure it all out." "It's not to dismissive, but it's where we are at the moment."
Kelly was out and Evan Phillips arrived, the first of six Dodgers' pitchers to pitch two- or fewer innings, but never gave up more than one hit. Pujols was the first to start in over two weeks. He had two hits, a walk, and scored twice on Taylor homers.
Pujols walked each 90-foot step like he was walking barefoot. The basepaths were covered with tiny, sharp rocks. The man will still be able hit 70 years later. At this age, his swing is above his waist but his hands and strength are still fast. Another positive thing about Pujols is that he will still be the same 41-year old he was when he turned 70.
The Dodgers left the field after the game and bounced down the steps to the dugout. Meanwhile, the mariachi band performed from the right-center bleachers while they continued their performance. A good portion of the fans stayed. After their last home game in the NLCS, the Dodgers didn’t make any grand gestures or salute them. They still have Atlanta and Atlanta elimination games ahead of them. This could indicate that they are able to get the Braves exactly where they want them. Los Angeles was not the end of their plans.
