Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals Top Plays: Dodgers walk it off!
If the rest of the MLB playoffs live up to the NL wild-card game, baseball fans are in for a treat.
The Los Angeles Dodgers needed all nine innings to shake loose of the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night, but they were able to advance to the NLDS in emphatic fashion thanks to a Chris Taylor walk-off home run to seal a 3-1 victory.
What awaits? A date with the San Francisco Giants in a battle between the teams with the two best records in MLB this season.
Here are the top plays and moments from the wild-card action!
Redbird inning
The Cardinals played a bit of small ball in the first inning, using a bloop hit from Tommy Edman and a walk from Paul Goldschmidt to get them on the board first with a 1-0 lead.
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In the bottom of the first, Wainwright retired three straight batters after a lead-off single from Mookie Betts, with the final out coming in the form of a spectacular grab.
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Surviving a jam
In the bottom of the third inning, Wainwright ran into his first signs of adversity, loading the bases with one out.
He was able to get out of the jam when Dodgers' second baseman Trea Turner grounded into a double play, preserving the Cardinals 1-0 lead.'
Turner time
The calendar has hit October, which means it's Justin Turner time in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers' all-time leader in playoff home runs added to his total in the bottom of the fourth inning, smashing his 13th career postseason blast to tie the score 1-1.
A sigh of relief
With Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts pulling Max Scherzer in the top of the fifth inning with two runners on base, relief pitcher Joe Kelly was tasked with making sure the Cardinals didn't add any insurance runs.
In a tough spot, Kelly came through in a major way, securing the final two outs of the inning, with the third out coming by way of strikeout to keep the game knotted at 1-1.
Bullpen battle
The Dodgers chased Adam Wainwright in the sixth, and things became a bullpen battle.
Cody Bellinger reached base on a single in the bottom of the seventh, then shocked Cards catcher Yadier Molina by stealing second base. His reaction to pulling it off led to some fun memes.
Web gem
Paul DeJong was freshly inserted into the game in the eighth inning for defensive purposes at shortstop.
The move paid dividends for the Cardinals immediately, with DeJong coming up with the highlight defensive play of the night to close out the eighth inning.
Walk-off!
The Dodgers' chase to defend their title is not ending in the wild-card game!
In the bottom of the ninth, Taylor hit a walk-off two-run homer to send the Dodgers into the NLDS to face the Giants.
Taylor entered the game with only eight hits in his last 72 at-bats, but when his team needed him most, the veteran delivered.
The hit immediately sent social media into a frenzy.
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