2021 Post-NLCS Game 5 Thread: Chris Taylor Will Not Go Quietly

Chris Taylor puts the Dodgers ahead for good in the second inning (great photo by Luis Sinco, LAT)

DODGERS 11, BRAVES 2

Chris Taylor saved the Dodgers in the 2021 Wild Card Game, winning the game with a walk-off two-run HR. And though none of Taylor's astounding three home runs were a walk-off last night, he definitely punctuated this NLCS Game 5 victory as well, multiple times. With Justin Turner felled by a hamstring in Game 4, and Joe Kelly gone for the series after being removed in the first inning, it was up to one of the remaining Dodgers left standing to step up and carry this team.

Enter Chris Taylor:

Amazing. Having been at Adam Kennedy's three-HR ALCS performance in 2002, and watched Kike Hernandez do the same against the Cubs in 2017, it was awesome to view Taylor going to town for the final game of this series at Dodger Stadium (I watched this game at home). There have been 11 players with three home runs in a postseason game (including teammate Albert Pujols), but Taylor is the first to do it in an elimination game.

Chris Taylor carried us for the first half of this season, cooled off in the later months, and then came alive again for the postseason (despite his baserunning gaffe in Game 1). He now has four HR this 2021 postseason, in which he is batting .364 with a 1.254 OPS. Taylor is a free agent at the end of this season, and I so hope he is back in Dodger Blue.

Not that Taylor was the only Dodger hero in NLCS Game 5. AJ Pollock went 3-for-5 with two HR and 4 RBI of his own; Pollock's eighth-inning, three-run HR was a definitive game-ending smash. Love this picture:

That’s a baaaaaaad man. pic.twitter.com/cBzfgnBomn

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 22, 2021

Albert Pujols went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Trea Turner, elevated to the two spot, went 3-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Will Smith was the only Dodgers position player to go 0-fer, and even Smith made a fine play to throw out Eddie Rosario at second on a stolen base attempt.

That was the Dodgers' seventh straight win in a postseason elimination game. Four of these backs-against-the-wall wins have been against the Braves.

So we head back to Atlanta for a Game 6 on Saturday. But I'm going to just buzz and enjoy this beatdown, right now. Let's cue up Don Henley (and Axl Rose on backup vocals):

2021 NLCS Post-Game 3 Thread: Bellinger, Betts AGAIN Come Up Clutch

DODGERS 6, BRAVES 5

The @Dodgers had just a 6% chance to win after the bottom of the 7th, then @Cody_Bellinger struck. pic.twitter.com/p7dFHFjIZr

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 20, 2021

In the eighth inning of 2021 NLCS Game 3, the Dodgers' season looked to be over. But battling back from a 6% chance of winning to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat was absolutely amazing, and one of the most incredible Dodger games I have ever attended.

The reports are right on target: I have never heard the Stadium so loud, which was probably more stunning because the Stadium wasn't full. But what made the noise so astonishing was that the deafening roar arose from a quiet (albeit largely still packed) audience with such ferocity, it was like the din of the fighter jets doing the flyover during the pre-game ceremony. ShakaBOOOOOOOM!

The Dodgers started NLCS Game 3 with another two-run Corey Seager HR in the first before an out was registered, just like we did in NLCS Game 2. And once again, the Dodgers gave up the lead later on in the game, despite having a Braves starting pitcher on the ropes and struggling, letting him off the hook with poor ABs and LOBs. When Walker Buehler faltered in the fourth, the Dodgers' offense looked exhausted, striking out and grounding out like old men (including the high-leverage Albert Pujols PH that resulted in a weak strikeout).

But then came the bottom of the eighth, and although Cody Bellinger's three-run HR made the stadium absolutely erupt, and Mookie Betts' double gave the Dodgers the lead--it was a full inning of unlikely events. And it happened SO FAST, like a tsunami. And with ABs that belied how poorly we attacked the Braves pitchers earlier in the game. Will Smith didn't muscle a ball, instead poking it up the right field line for a single. Justin Turner weakly popped out to second, which is a continued concern. But AJ Pollock worked a two-strike single up the middle, setting the stage for Bellinger's heroics.

Bellinger was down 1-2 in that AB, and the first strike was awful (brought to his knees, as the corkscrew was way off) and the second strike wasn't much better (totally mis-timed). So for him to get that home run ball, on a fastball so high up in the strike zone that there was no logical explanation of how this could have possibly been hit for a home run, was insanity. Any normal batter would have whiffed; not to mention, a guy batting .165 all year, who couldn't catch up to fastballs in the entire month of September.

The Braves were stunned. The place was going crazy. Frankly, I was just shocked that we had tied the score at all. But the fun wasn't over just yet. Chris Taylor singled over a leaping Dansby Swanson at short, and then stole second base while Matt Beaty was in his pinch-hitting AB. Beaty grounded to second in what many reports are calling a "sure double-play ball had Taylor been on first"--which is true--but I think Beaty deliberately poked it there to advance the runner in case it was fielded (which it was). I looked at that one as a smart Beaty AB.

And then, Mookie. Mookie, Mookie, Mookie. Mr. Clutch, a two-out double to right fielder Joc Pederson, to take the lead. Talk about ice in the veins.

The Dodgers then loaded the bases to bat all the way around in the order, but Will Smith popped to second to end the threat and fail to add on any insurance runs. Kenley Jansen then came in for the ninth (the inning he is supposed to be able to pitch, by the way), and struck out the 4, 5, and 6 batters in the Braves lineup, including the dangerous Austin Riley and Pederson (batting .364), to win the game.

And as much debated as Dave Roberts' pitching choices were in NLCS Game 2 (even I couldn't understand the use of Urias for the eighth inning, which doomed us), let's take stock that Dave Roberts' crazy pitching choices in NLCS Game 3 kept us in the game. Taking out Buehler when he was losing his cool, and command, in the fourth. Alex Vesia to close ou tthat inning. Pulling Corey Knebel when he got into trouble, allowing only one run to score. Introducing Justin Bruihl to the series at the right time. Calling on Mariachi Joe Kelly to strike out the dangerous Ozzie Albies with two on and two out. Bringing in Evan Phillips for five key outs in the seventh and eight. And then switching to Tony Gonsolin to again thwart Albies (who ended up 1-for-5 but is still batting .308 for the postseason).

My only worry is that we've let Freddie Freeman (3-for-4 with a walk) find his stroke again. But having Austin Riley go 0-for-4 with a walk is an amazing feat for this series.

I will try and post more about the at-game experience later. There was so much more: the mariachi band in the right field bleachers, complete with a cardboard cutout of Joe Kelly (and a hilarious cut to him in the bullpen, mid-game) was hysterical; and it was so fun to have them liven up the crowd during the game. Watching the game while still avoiding alcohol (given my vow to the baseball gods after NLDS Game 3). But for now, all I can say is, I am so glad to have been there. And to have stuck it out to the end (even with the hour-long wait to get out of the parking lot!).

UPDATE: I also found this animation to be hilarious.

#MLBFieldVision -- Cody Bellinger's game-tying home run trot pic.twitter.com/Rss5FHmBfd

— David Adler (@_dadler) October 20, 2021

Post-2021 NLDS Game 5 Thread: Cody Bellinger Was Clutch, But SoSG Sax Is The Real Hero

DODGERS 2, GIANTS 1

In one of the most tense Dodgers playoff games I have ever watched, the Dodgers overcame the ghosts of Giants playoff games past, winning 2021 NLDS Game 5 in its final inning. The game's box score looked identical for the Giants and Dodgers through the first eight innings, with each team showing one run on six hits, and both runs coming in the sixth inning (Dodgers, off a Mookie Betts single and stolen base, scoring on a Corey Seager RBI double; Giants, on a solo home run to deep center by Darren Ruf).

Justin Turner was batting 0-for-3 with a walk in this game, capping an uncharacteristically anemic .083 batting average this postseason. But when Camilo Doval hit Justin Turner in the top of the ninth with one out, that opened up a sliver of hope for the Dodgers that seemed to elude them all game (the Dodgers ended the game 2-for-10 with RISP, and 7 LOB). Gavin Lux worked a great AB for a solid single to right, his first hit of the game (despite great at bats all game long). JT advances to second. And then, the light-hitting Cody Bellinger scorched an RBI single right through the shift to have the Dodgers take the lead:

Bellinger was the hero. Bellinger, after a trying season full of injuries and disappointing ABs. I was very worried by his plate appearance here in the ninth (I thought he was going to GIDP), and I was very proud to be proven wrong by his GWRBI. Way to go, Cody!

The bottom of the ninth wasn't a cakewalk, though. Dave Roberts' insane pitching choices this game, starting out with Corey Knebel for the first inning; Brusdar Graterol for the second; and Julio Urias for the third-through-sixth frames, seemed to leave us high and dry after using Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen one inning earlier than normal. As the LAT's Dylan Hernandez pointed out, the unusual starter decision drove Giants manager Gabe Kapler to burn left-handed batters Tommy La Stella and Mike Yastrzemski early, making them unable to pinch-hit later. Who knows, it might have gotten the Giants spinning, spending energy trying to react to the unconventional move.

As an aside, I've learned to have trust in Doc Roberts' calls. The decision to start Knebel "went all the way to the tippy-top of the organization," Roberts said (the LAT also reported that Roberts told Kapler abou the Knebele decison at 10pm on Wednesday night, though the news didn't break to the public until aroudn 12 hours later). That said, the decision to have Chris Taylor bunt in the top of the ninth, with one out and men at the corners, was ridiculous. Taylor was stroking the ball well, a squeeze play at the plate was unnecesary, and Taylor popped his bunt up for an out anyway. That ended up leaving the score at 2-1 LA, at a time when a third run really seemend necessary to win this one.

Max Scherzer came in to pitch the ninth and line up for his first career save. But should this game go to extras, it wasn't clear what arms might be left to utilize.

Scherzer got Brandon Crawford to fly out to Chris Taylor in left field. Then Kris Bryant reached on an error by Justin Turner, which was bone-chilling. Winning run now comes to the plate. You sort of got the sense that one more mistake from Scherzer--in an unfamiliar position--would cost the Dodgers the game. Giants manager Gabe Kapler threw in "Late Night" LaMonte Wade to pinch hit, and he Kd looking on a beautiful pitch to the outside high corner, ending a very tense AB. And then, controversy struck, when Wilmer Flores struck out on a close call check swing that was called a game- and series-ending strike. And I mean, a very close call:

Giants fans are understandably angry; that's a shitty way to lose a game. However, so was losing on July 22, when a check swing that should have been called strike 3 was mis-called as ball 4, leading to Kenley Jansen walking in the tying run, in an eventual 5-3 loss to the Giants.

Poetic Justice. #CheckedSwingKarma pic.twitter.com/32OBLUUVR4

— Eric Vrsalovich (@EVrsalovich) October 15, 2021

Kapler, in his post-game conference, was disappointed by the call but reiterated "that was not the sole reason we lost that game." Gotta hand it to Kapler for that poise and professionalism in the wake of that loss.

Maybe this is the baseball gods restoring order. I was at that July 22 Giants @ Dodgers game, and yes, it hurt--even in a game much less meaningful than this one. But given that game would have had the Dodgers win the season series with the Giants (and the division), meaning NLDS Game 5 would be in Los Angeles,... perhaps it's karma. Or payback for The New York Giants stealing signs in 1951.

Baseball karma.

----------

Okay so by this point you are probably asking how SoSG Sax could have been the hero, when all he did was watch the game 300 miles away on television, pacing a groove in the floor just like every other Dodgers fan during that tense Game 5 matchup?

I went to NLDS Game 3. And I was fortunate enough to go in a suite, which gives access to not only great views, but food and beverages. And oh, there were a lot of beverages. I got to Game 3 very early, giving me a chance to have many of the beers in the refrigerator during the course of the game (always drinking responsibly, of course). Scherzer was on the mound against Alex Wood. The Dodgers, tied 1-1 in the series with two games at home, looked poised to win Game 3.

But unfortunately, that was the blustery and cold night that the Dodgers lost, when winds knocked down shots from Chris Taylor and Gavin Lux short of the wall that Evan Longoria was lucky enough to crest, in the Giants' 1-0 victory.

Mind you, this was my third visit to that suite this year. And all three times, the Dodgers had lost.

I was going back to that same suite for NLDS Game 4. And now, I was very worried. Was it my presence in that area that was dragging the Dodgers down? I even considered not going to the game at all, but that seemed extreme.

So late the night of Game 3, I made a vow: I would not drink any alcohol as long as the Dodgers were playing in the 2021 postseason.

Please note, this is a HUGE sacrifice to the baseball gods. I can't remember the last time I was at a baseball game and not drinking a beer, but I am guessing I was underage at the time. Having a beer at a baseball game is one of my passions, coupled with two of my favorite things in the world: baseball, and beer. Maybe not in that order.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, though. So I went to the game. The Dodgers romped to a 7-2 victory. And while friends and acquaintances cheered and clinked cans of Stella Artois and Modelo, I drank Aha flavored seltzer water and Dasani.

One thing I did notice was that I need to fidget while watching a game. So I ate a lot of chips and popcorn. Guess that's why I'm sipping a lot of beer during a game, normally.

But I also noticed, it wasn't tooooooo bad to be dry while watching the Dodgers. I could do this. I think.

So, bolstered by the Dodgers' win in Game 4, I have remained alcohol-free. Including through the off-day. Including through all of NLDS Game 5.

And it worked.

I also wore the same "World Series LA" hat (from 2017) which brought the Dodgers luck in Game 4. Same Dodgers socks as in Game 4, as well. And I wore a different Dodgers t-shirt during most of the game. After the seventh inning, with the score tied 1-1, I wanted to switch to the "World Series Champs" t-shirt (also what I wore Game 4), but Ms. Sax, sitting beside me on the sofa, warned me it was too early. So I waited. Then in the ninth inning, she signalled for the t-shirt change from the bullpen. And THAT move worked, too!

Crazy.

So here we go, on to the NLCS with Game 1 in Atlanta. I'll be poised and ready, as I'm sure the Dodgers will be as well. But I won't have drink in hand!

GO DODGERS!

Post-2021 NLDS Game 4 Thread: Mookie Mashes The Dodgers Back From The Brink

The winning Game 4 giveaway towel.

DODGERS 7, GIANTS 2

This might be more of an At-Game Recap than a Post-Game Thread, but I needed to get my thoughts out about Game 4 (which I attended), which was a much better outcome than Game 3 (which I also attended). I am lucky to have been present for both games and I am very glad we won Game 4. But it was tense, man. Even with the Dodgers clearly getting to Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani early; and with Dodgers starter Walker Buehler looking decently solid on his own, it didn't seem like it was in hand, even with a 2-0 lead.

Then came Mookie Betts, in the bottom of the fourth, right after Walker Buehler had legged out a ricochet shot that resulted in a fielding error by Giants pitcher Jarlin Garcia. With none out, Mookie ripped one to right center field:

That one was the first time I thought the Dodgers had a chance at winning this game. 2-0 was a good start, punctuated by a Trea Turner RBI double in the first, and then a Chris Taylor sac fly in the second. But we really needed some space here, and that shot did it. From then on I felt a lot better about the game, especially getting an opportunity to see the entire Giants bullpen, which I hope proves advantageous in Game 5 (assuming we can get past Logan Webb, that is).

After the misery of Game 3, which started with swirls of cold wind befitting a San Francisco day more than a Los Angeles evening, it was great to be here for Gmae 4 with the climate more typical of a Dodger game. Just to be safe, though, I changed everything about my routine from Game 3. I changed Dodgers shirts and Dodger jackets. I wore different pants, shoes, and Dodger socks. I even broke out a brand new, never-before worn World Series LA Dodgers hat--from the 2017 World Series which was cheated from us--to make sure the baseball gods remembered.

Maybe Mookie saw my hat. He wasn't there for that 2017 heartbreak (and unfortunately, he was there for 2018's disappointment, just on the other side). But Mookie was definitely there for 2020. And it was great to see him there in 2021, leading us to a critical victory.

Great win. Grateful I was there for it.

Full highlights:

Post-2021 NLDS Game 2 Thread: Offense Erupts, Dodgers Even Series At One

DODGERS 9, GIANTS 2

The line favored the Dodgers in this NLDS Game 2, but I didn't believe it. Not after getting shut down by Logan Webb in Game 1, where we went scoreless in the 4-0 defeat. It reminded me that, with the exception of a solo shot by Justin Turner and a game-winning walkoff HR by Chris Taylor, the Dodgers hadn't had much of an offensive show for this 2021 postseason.

Many Dodgers were to blame for this power outage, but none received more criticism than Cody Bellinger, who struggled through multiple injuries and could never get that corkscrew swing to be back into place this season. He looked thoroughly lost all year, especially on the high fastballs in which he was inevitably late. But in Game 2, with the Dodgers nursing a tight 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning and one out, Bellinger met Giants reliever Dominic Leone and came through:

AJ Pollock followed Bellinger with another two-run-scoring double down the left field line. Pollock had also been maligned for his poor postseason performance as a Dodger (though unlike Bellinger, Pollock almost hit .300 this year during the regular season). Suddenly, it's 6-1 LA in the sixth, and the pressure was lifted.

But that wasn't all. In the eighth inning, Will Smith hit a first-pitch solo shot off of Zack Littell for a 7-2 lead.. After a Chris Taylor single, a Bellinger K, and a AJ Pollock single, Dodgers bench reserve Matt Beaty had an RBI single to left.

I couldn't be more happy for Beaty, who was the one Dodgers player not to get any appearances in the 2020 World Series. He wasn't great in Game 1 starting in place of the injured Max Muncy at first, but it was great to see him contribute here in a pinch (he replaced Corey Knebel). When Corey Seager added a two-out single to score Pollock and make the score 9-2, it was more than over.

Of course, the Dodgers were only in this spot thanks to Julio Urias' five innings of three-hit, 5 K ball that yielded only one run despite a couple of jams and leadoff Giants on the basepaths. The Giants ended up 1-for-8 with RISP; the Dodgers were 6-for-15. Urias also stroked a RBI single in the second inning to help the cause and open up a 2-0 lead early.

Also of note: Although Joe Kelly gave up a run in the sixth inning (and Alex Vesia gave up a run in Game 1), our bullpen has still been pretty strong in these two games. The Dodgers got to both Leone and Littell for multiple runs on Saturday. Both the Dodgers and Giants have strong bullpens. I hope this is a portent of things to come for this series.

Meanwhile, Kenley Jansen and Blake Treinen have yet to make an appearance in the NLDS.

Mookie Betts also had a momentum-saving pirouette move in right field on an RBI single by Brandon Crawford. When Wilmer Flores tried to stretch from first to third on the same play, Mookie gunned his butt out at third by a sweet throw to Justin Turner:

Flores nailed. Rally over. Good prevails over evil in Game 2.

Now we're back to Los Angeles for two home games. I'm feeling a lot better now that it's a best-of-three series with two games at home; some of the sleeping bats woke up in a tense affair on enemy territory; and we've got Max Scherzer going on Monday.

Clench up, Dodgers fans.

Post 2021 NL Wild Card Game Thread: Chris Taylor Walks It Off

DODGERS 3, CARDINALS 1

With a dramatic walk-off home run that will sit among legendary blasts like Kirk Gibson's in WS 1988, Justin Turner's in NLCS 2017, and Max Muncy's in WS 2018: Chris Taylor just pushed us past the St. Louis Cardinals in the winner-take-all 2021 NL Wild Card Game.

Unbelievable.

The Dodgers should have won this game on paper, what with their 106-win record (16 wins more than St. Louis), but the Cardinals came into this game incredibly hot, winning 19 of their last 22 including their last 11 road games and a franchise record 17-game winning streak wedged in that run.

The Dodgers also ended the season hot, though, including winning their last 15 home games to come up just short of the NL West division victory. But in a winner-take-all Wild Card Game, the best team doesn't always win. And one of these hot streaks was going to fall tonight.

Max Scherzer didn't have it tonight, with his command failing him throughout the game (I think there were seven three-ball counts), ultimately being pulled after 4.1 IP and an uncharacteristic 94 pitches. The LAT accurately described him as "scuffling." Scherzer was pissed when Dave Roberts pulled him. But it ended up being the right call, as Roberts' use of the bullpen through Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Corey Knebel, and Kenley Jansen was just masterful: 4.2 IP of no-run ball with only two hits (Scherzer had given up three and 6 Ks (Scherzer had 3 Ks, the same amount as Jansen). (Yes, we should qualify for a Jumbo Jack with 10 Ks total.)

But Adam Wainwright wasn't perfect either, lasting 5.1 IP but barely escaping a threat in the third when Trea Turner's broken bat led to an inning-ending GIDP. Wainwright ended up with only 5 Ks, one more than Scherzer, in an inning more of work. Wainwright also conceded a fourth-inning solo shot to Justin Turner that tied the game, and the game traded scoreless innings through the fifth-through-eighth innings.

So rather quickly, this game had become a test of each team's bullpens. The games involving the bullpen arms played out like a tennis match, which the TBS announcers referenced often ("The Dodgers hold serve!"). Luck was going to to end up being a factor here, but I have to hand it to Dave Roberts for making the right bullpen calls at all the right times.

The Cardinals threatened, putting runners on base in multiple innings, using a weak but effective arsenal of bloop singles and inopportune walks, amplified by three stolen bases. But they ultimately were let down by a remarkable 0-for-11 performance with RISP. And even though reliever and former closer (and All-Star) Alex Reyes yielded the Taylor HR in the bottom of the ninth, it was those missed offensive opportunities which doomed the Cardinals.

Not getting a post-date kiss, I reckon.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, went 2-for-5 with RISP. Our offense wasn't great either, with the exceptions of Mookie Betts had two hits (both misplays by Cards SS Edmundo Sosa), Trea Turner (two hits), and Cody Bellinger (a hit and two walks (and two SBs--real credit to Bellinger for making a huge impact in this critical game)). But AJ Pollock, Will Smith, and Corey Seager all went 0-for-3 with at leat one K (Seager had 2 Ks). Still, when we needed to get the big hit, we did.

Full credit to Taylor, who entered the game in a double-switch (for Graterol, as well as Pollock), and popped out to first in the bottom of the seventh. Much was made by the TBS broadcasters who cited Taylor's recent 8-for-72 stretch, not researching that Taylor had basically carried us through the first half of the 2021 season (not to mention, an outstanding defensive play in the top of the eighth on a sinking fly ball to left). But this was Taylor's moment to shine: two out, bottom 9, Bellinger in scoring position, and a 2-1 count (having been fooled badly on a slider earlier in the AB). You knew it as soon as it left the bat; Taylor and squared up his leg kick and everything.

BOOM. We're in the NLDS, and now head up to San Francisco for a pair of games to start a best-of-five series.

But first, let's celebrate. (And it was wonderful to watch the team celebrate in the locker room post-game, channeling all the joy that was stolen from them with the anticlimactic ending of the 2021 regular season, despite the torrid finish to the amazing regular season that did not get justly rewarded!)

UPDATE 10/7: More coverage, I can't resist.

The LAT's Gina Ferazzi took this amazing shot of Chris Taylor as the home run was at the end of its flight. What an awesome photograph. It anchors the WC G1 photos page online, as well as the Sports page print edition.

Also, here's Charley Steiner's call on radio (thank you, SoSG Orel, for pointing this out to me). Good to hear not only Steiner make the correct call on a deep fly ball (a rarity in itself!), but also to hear him lose his mind:

Series Thread (Games 60-62): June 8-10 @ Pirates

Tue 6.8 4p: Buehler vs. Brubaker
Wed 6.9 4p: TBD vs. T Anderson
Thu 6.10 9.30a: Urias vs. M Keller

Dropping two of three in Atlanta bodes poorly for this series @ PNC Park. I thought we could take the series, but instead we couldn't establish any sort of momentum save one 8-run inning in the first game of the Braves series. Now, on to the Pirates, worst in the NL Centra (9.5 games out of first). But we're now three games out of first place in the NL West and fading fast, despite a league-leading run differential. Not feeling good here.

UPDATE 6/9: Dodgers win Game 1, 5-3. But it would have been closer, had Ke'Bryan Hayes' HR not been overturned after he forgot to step on first base:

Recapping the Dodgers' Amazing 11 First-Inning Runs (June 2, 2021)

screenshot stolen from Spectrum SportsNet last night

Last night, en route to a 14-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dodgers mashed out 11 runs in the first inning. It was the most runs scored in an inning since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Cody Bellinger finally broke out of his return-to-the-majors somnabulation and crushed a one-inning franchise record 6 RBI.

🚨 BELLI SLAM 🚨

It's an 11(!!!)-run first for LA. pic.twitter.com/dgdawSLM11

— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2021

Here's a recap of the whole bottom of the first:

In fact, it reminded me a lot of the last 11-runs-in-one inning outburst by the Dodgers, which came in the 2020 NLCS vs. the Braves:

More important than winning the series with the Cards and moving 1.5 GB the divisional lead, this game showed that the Dodgers' offense might actually be back. We can't depend on Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, and a recent coming of age from Gavin Lux. If we can get Bellinger healthy, Mookie Betts back to a prolific leadoff hitter...who knows how we might look when Corey Seager comes back from the broken hand, around the All-Star break.

But for now, let's celebrate the bottom of the first inning, batter by batter:

• Mookie Betts hits a ground-rule double (17) on a fly ball down the right-field line.
• Max Muncy walks.
• Justin Turner singles on a sharp ground ball to left. Betts scores, Muncy to third, Turner to second. Throwing error by left fielder Tyler O'Neill. LA 1, STL 1
• Cody Bellinger singles on a sharp line drive to right. Muncy, Turner score. LA 3, STL 1
• Chris Taylor walks, Bellinger to second.
• Gavin Lux singles on a sharp fly ball to center. Bellinger scores. Taylor to third, Lux to second. Throwing error by shortstop Edmundo Sosa. LA 4, STL 1
• Zach McKinstry singles on sharp ground ball to right. Taylor, Lux score. LA 6, STL 1
• McKinstry steals (1) second.
• Austin Barnes walks. This is eight straight batters without an out recorded.
• Walker Buehler strikes out on a foul bunt. One out.
• Betts singles on a line drive to left. McKinstry scores, Barnes to second. LA 7, STL 1
• Muncy flies out to right. Two out.
• Turner walks. Barnes to third, Betts to second.
• Jake Woodford replaces pitcher Carlos Martinez.
• Bellinger hits a grand slam (1) to right-center. Barnes, Betts, Turner also score. LA 11, STL 1
• Taylor lines out sharply to short. Three out.

Wow, what an inning. Between this, and Chris Taylor's 14-pitch AB in Monday's game (below--people, this AB takes over nine minutes!!!), this series might have the turning point for the Dodgers' season. We're in third place in the division, but with the third-best record in the NL (and fifth-best in MLB). Let's GOOOOOOO!