LOS ANGELES -- More than 53,000 fans at Dodger Stadium and two dugouts thought Gavin Lux's line drive with two outs in the ninth inning in Game 3 of the NLDS on Monday night was gone. It turns out the man who had the best view in the park thought the same thing.
A day after catching Lux's drive to clinch a 1-0 win in Game 3, Giants outfielder Steven Duggar said he thought the game was tied in that moment.
"Off the bat I thought it was a homer," he said. "That's why I looked back at the wall halfway through the route. When I picked (the ball) back up I was like, 'Ohhhhh, slam on the brakes.' "
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Duggar stopped so abruptly on the warning track that he left a lengthy mark in the dirt, but he camped under the ball and reached up to make a game-ending catch. He said this was one of the only games he has ever played in where the wind was making that much of a difference on balls that got into the air.
"I think taking my eye off it was a bit risky, but at the same time I just wanted to find the wall because initially I thought it was going to have a chance to clear," Duggar said. "When I picked it back up I just slammed on the brakes and tried to find my footing. Once I did, it was just calm head, catch the ball, take us home."
RELATED: Giants, Dodgers in disbelief wind knocked down Lux's fly ball
Duggar's defense in center helped the Giants win the nail biter, and manager Gabe Kapler shouted out his outfielders after the game, saying he had never seen a night like that at Dodger Stadium. Duggar said the entire night was tricky for the outfielders.
San Francisco Giants
"The (Chris) Taylor ball, the wind knocked it down and then at the same time grabbed it and took it an extra five, 10 feet," he said. "There was a ball earlier in the game I was camped behind and it kept getting pushed back to the infield. It was definitely a wild night for the wind, for sure."