The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers were both in shock after a 1-0 Giants win put them up 2-1 in the NLDS of the 2021 MLB Playoffs.. It was a bizarre Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, with uncharacteristic whipping winds making it extremely hard on the hitters.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler noted how “super strange” the weather was in Southern California, via Beth Harris of The Associated Press:
“I don’t remember a lot of nights at Dodger Stadium where the wind was blowing like that.”
Evan Longoria was able to muscle out a home run off Max Scherzer in the fifth inning to give San Francisco a 1-0 lead, and that was all the scoring for the night. However, the Dodgers had several long drives that would have been gone on most nights, including Gavin Lux's deep shot with two outs in the ninth. Lux was left in disbelief that the ball didn't go out to tie the game:
Gavin Lux is a professional hitter, he knows when he gets all of one. His immediate reaction off the bat was that it would be gone. His face here says it all. https://t.co/jkpSiBGIzp pic.twitter.com/sUvLOM87D3
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHHarris) October 12, 2021
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As noted by the metrics, this ball would have been a home run on basically any other night. Chris Taylor was also robbed of a home run by the wind earlier in the game.
Longoria himself couldn't believe what transpired:
“My stomach pretty much sank when he hit it. I couldn’t believe that it didn’t go,” Longoria said. “I guess it was our night.”
As another example of just how wacky the wind was, Scherzer said it was pushing him toward home plate while he was on the mound. The fact that Longoria was able to hit a home run off the superstar pitcher was truly incredible, especially given he was in an 0-for-23 slump leading up to that plate appearance.
The defending champion Dodgers are now on the brink of elimination.
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