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“Cody Bellinger strikes again!”
That was the call on TBS last night that postseason Dodgers fans were salivating for and tag-along fans were stunned by. What. A. Night. (early evening?)
The Dodgers only had four hits heading into the eighth inning down 5-2.
— SB Nation (@SBNation) October 20, 2021
Then they erupted with 6 hits and a Bellinger 3-run homer
Atlanta had a 93% chance of winning. That 7% was just enough for LA to win it pic.twitter.com/7nGELBTBNy
Eric Stephen already summed up last night very nicely here but if you missed that, head there first. Then let’s dive into the rest of it.
On Bellinger’s game-tying home run in the 8th…
Chills. pic.twitter.com/AKcC4NPXvB
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 20, 2021
Orel Hershiser, in the post-game analysis says that Belli bomb came off a pitch that “normally gets him out”:
"The simplicity of keeping his swing simple...he trusted in it and hit the pitch that normally gets him out." @OrelHershiser & the studio crew recap tonight's #Dodgers win and a giant moment for Cody Bellinger in Game 3. @realnedcolletti @LAJohnHartung pic.twitter.com/CiPGT06UON
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) October 20, 2021
On the height of that pitch:
I'm still hung up on being able to homer on *this* pitch. Absurd!! pic.twitter.com/pXlT18KNUE
— Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) October 20, 2021
On the game overall…
Dodgers rally past Braves in Game 3 with late inning heroics at the Washington Post
Photos of the game from the LA Times
From the NY Times: Cody Bellinger’s Blast Breathes New Life Into Dodgers
From Tim Tucker at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: NLCS Game 3 at a glance
And let’s not forget the bullpen, who held together for several scoreless innings after a rocky start from Walker Buehler, including this 9th-inning gem by Kenley Jansen:
Shut it down, @kenleyjansen74! pic.twitter.com/zhTfFfjuax
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 20, 2021
And the rest…
Devin Fink at FanGraphs thinks a big playbook and luck have accounted for Freddie Freeman’s strikeouts during the NLCS. They break down how the Dodgers are pitching to Freeman and what that might mean for the series.
Rob Parker at Deadspin has a piece on why Atlanta shouldn’t celebrate just yet, despite a good start to the series. On paper, perhaps, the Dodgers are the better team, and “the idea that the Dodgers would lose to the Braves without Ronald Acuña Jr. just didn’t seem possible. But good pitching and clutch hits work in the postseason.” But the Dodgers and the Braves have been here before, and seven games may be needed once again. This piece hits even better today.