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by Cary Osborne
Los Angeles didn’t get to see the never-say-die Dodgers in person during the 2020 postseason. So now here’s making up for lost time.
The Dodgers beat the Giants 7–2 on Tuesday in Game 4 of the National League Division Championship Series, sending the series back to San Francisco for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Thursday.
This is the second Dodger victory in a win-or-go-home game in the 2021 postseason, now standing alongside the Dodgers’ walk-off 3–1 win in the Wild Card Game at Dodger Stadium against the Cardinals on Oct. 6.
“Tonight’s a great example of 26 guys coming together and figuring out a way to survive,” said Dodger starting pitcher Walker Buehler. Buehler gave the Dodgers momentum on the pitching side allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings in his first-ever start on three-days’ rest.
On the offensive side, six different Dodgers had two hits each, with home runs coming off the bats of Mookie Betts and Will Smith.
If Monday’s Game 3 loss was San Francisco-like with its windy conditions, Game 4 was more LA’s style — heavy traffic.
The Dodgers scored in four of the first five innings and had 16 baserunners through the first six innings.
Gavin Lux, starting in center field for the first time in the series a day after nearly hitting a ninth-hitting, game-tying home run, reached base all four times from the №6 spot in the order — two singles and two walks. Cody Bellinger, from the seven spot, collected his first multi-hit game since Aug. 25.
“We have to be able to score runs one through nine,” said Betts who drove in three runs in the game. “It can’t just come from one section of the lineup. So those guys getting hits, creating havoc and they run the bases, they do everything that we need them to do. That’s going to be huge going forward.”
The Dodgers knocked around San Francisco starter Anthony DeSclafani with six hard-hit balls struck out of 11 batters.
After a Corey Seager single, Trea Turner split the gap in right-center field for an RBI double in the first, giving the Dodgers the early 1–0 lead.
Back-to-back singles by Lux and Bellinger in the second led to a second run on a Chris Taylor sacrifice fly.
Though the Dodgers were 1-for-11 in the game with runners in scoring position, they grinded through eight different Giant pitchers and got sudden impact from the long ball.
Betts hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, giving the Dodgers a 4–0 lead. He later added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Will Smith hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
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— @Dodgers
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By that point, it was 7–2.
As much as the offense was a lift in this game, pitching has lifted the Dodgers throughout the series, limiting the Giants to nine total runs.
Buehler gave his team one of the biggest lifts of his illustrious postseason career.
The right-handed ace lobbied to pitch the game, and he was magnificent.
He weaved through a jam in the second inning, retiring the last two Giant batters with runners on first and third. Buehler threw four scoreless innings before exiting in the fifth.
Evan Longoria led off the fifth inning with a shift single to the open right side. After Buehler induced a line out by Mike Yastrzemski, he walked center fielder Steven Duggar.
That signaled Buehler’s end. The big-game hunter walked off the mound to a roaring applause, an acknowledgment of his brilliance and fortitude.
“I told him after he came out, I was like, this is something now you’ve checked a box,” said manager Dave Roberts. “You’ve pitched in big games, elimination games, (Game) 163, and all this other kind of stuff, but never pitched on short rest. And a box was checked and you came out ahead.”
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Longoria later scored on a Darin Ruf groundout against Joe Kelly, cutting the Dodger lead to 4–1 at the time. The Giants added another run in the eighth inning when Brandon Crawford, who earlier doubled, scored on a Kris Bryant groundout against Blake Treinen.
The Dodger bullpen allowed one earned run over the final 4 2/3 innings, building off Buehler’s start.
“I just know when our backs are against the wall that we have a guy named Walker Buehler that ends up getting us out of it,” Betts said. “He did it again today, but we got one more game. Julio has to bring us home.”
In Game 5, Julio Urías, who allowed one run over five innings in the Dodgers’ Game 2 win, will be opposed by the Giants’ Logan Webb, who blanked the Dodgers over 7 1/3 innings in the Giants’ Game 1 win.
“If you have a pulse or you’re a sports fan, you better be watching Dodgers-Giants, so it’s going to be a great one,” Roberts said.
Backs against the wall, Dodgers once again prove their mettle was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.