Dodgers: Stats show Gavin Lux got robbed by wind on 'game-tying homer'

The Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t muster up any form of offense on Monday night against a combination of Alex Wood, Tyler Rogers, Jake McGee and Camilo Doval.

Well … that’s not entirely true. With two outs in the ninth inning, facing a 1-0 deficit, Dodgers IF/OF Gavin Lux smashed a line drive home run into the left-center field gap to flip the narrative entirely and give his club new life.

Unfortunately, that would-be home run hit a jet stream unlike any other in recent Dodger Stadium history.

Not only did the ball not reach the seats, rendering Lux’s point-to-the-sky celebration premature, but it didn’t particularly come close, clearly smacked down by gale-force winds.

So … were our eyes deceiving us? Did Lux not get all of it? Was this just another medium-depth liner in a night full of near-misses (damn you, Brandon Crawford).

Turns out we’re not the crazy ones. According to the statistical profile of the liner, it really should’ve left the yard.

Gavin Lux hit the final pitch of the game 106.9 mph and at a 22-degree launch angle. Batters this season, on balls hit 106-107 mph and at 22-degree launch, were 55 for 62 (.887) with 38 home runs. The Dodgers had four such hits this year. All were homers. Lux thought he had one.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 12, 2021

Dodgers’ Gavin Lux’s celebration was not premature. He should’ve homered.

Not sure we enjoyed reading this, per se, but it was at least a comforting way to go into a must-win Game 4.

No, you’re not crazy! Gavin Lux isn’t crazy. He rocked a ball with the proper exit velocity and launch angle to secure an extremely dramatic and redemptive home run, one that might’ve repainted his entire season’s narrative. 107 MPH. 22 degree launch angle. The fifth ball smashed that hard by the Dodgers this season … and the first that didn’t leave the yard.

That’s the kind of about-face that’ll leave your face looking like … well, this.

The complete Gavin Lux stare and walkaway pic.twitter.com/Ic3WtuVNLY
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) October 12, 2021

Lux had a lot to prove in 2021, and didn’t exactly take the necessary steps forward. He had a chance to insert himself into a starting role moving forward in the wake of Corey Seager’s potential departure, and instead saw Trea Turner arrive and his own name scribbled in an outfield spot in the lineup card.

Game 3 could’ve implanted him firmly in the annals of Dodgers history. Instead, the wind — which was whipping and bending foul poles pregame — had other plans.

Are we sure this was a home game? Because the entire ninth inning felt devilishly like San Francisco.