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The National League Wild Card game between the Cardinals and Dodgers had countless narratives to keep baseball fans occupied leading up until game time. The surging squad from St. Louis went on a 17-game winning streak to reach the playoffs while the 106-win Los Angeles juggernaut did everything they could to win the Western division and avoid a one-and-done scenario. The Dodgers carried the Albert Pujols “revenge” game and the adversity of losing Max Muncy during the last game of the regular season to an elbow injury. The fact of the matter is that the most important narrative in the win or go home showdown was the pitching matchup between veteran all-stars Max Scherzer and Adam Wainwright.
The game was intense from beginning to end so here is a brief play-by-play of the action for your reading enjoyment.
Max Scherzer took the mound in the top of the first carrying a 15-4 record with a 2.46 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over 179 ⅓ frames during the regular season with 236 strikeouts. The future Hall of Famer let the first pitch of the game get away from him slightly, possibly to hit umpire Joe West to get him out of the game early. Unfortunately, things got off to a rocky start when Cardinals lead-off man Tommy Edman knocked a dying quail into right field in front of Mookie Betts for a leadoff single before Scherzer would walk Paul Goldschmidt to put a pair of runners on base. The Dodgers right-hander was bailed out by Betts on the following at-bat when the right fielder ran down a foul ball, crashing lightly into the wall down the first base line to retire Tyler O’Neill for the first out. Edman would advance to third on the play, which would prove to be huge after a wild pitch during Nolan Arenado’s at-bat would allow the St.Louis infielder to score. The first-inning drama would not end there after a Corey Seager fielding error extended the frame in what should have been the third out, but Scherzer gathered himself and escaped the inning with just the lone run across.
The Dodgers looked to get the run back in the bottom of the first inning against the Cardinals ace as the 27th ranked offense versus curveballs according to Fangraphs pitch value. This is of significant importance given the fact that the curve is the bread and butter of Wainwright’s arsenal. Luckily for Mookie Betts, the 40-year-old started him off with a cut fastball which he smoked up the middle for a single as Cardinals shortstop Edmundo Sosa couldn’t handle the 99.1 miles per hour scorcher. Corey Seager went down looking on a backdoor sinker in the following at-bat (in which Wainwright cranked up to 92 miles per hour, which is fast for him) before Trea Turner would ground into a fielder’s choice for the second out. Adam Wainwright would handle things himself in the next at-bat by snatching a Justin Turner line drive out of the air to end the frame and send the contest into the second. [[ad:athena]]
End of the first inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 0
Edmundo Sosa would battle Max Scherzer in a nine-pitch at-bat to open the second inning before finally being retired on a 95.2 miles per hour fastball for the 37-year-old’s first strikeout of the game. The right-hander’s command would slip away once again, allowing Harrison Bader to reach on a walk before Adam Wainwright would come to bat and drive up Scherzer’s pitch count to 40. The St. Louis pitcher would eventually advance Bader to second on a sacrifice bunt. The inning would then come to a lackluster end when Tommy Edman would send a fly ball to shallow left field for the third out. If Scherzer is able to settle down, the Cardinals are going to regret not getting to him early while his command was clearly off.
The bottom of the second opened with Tommy Edman making a fantastic backhanded slide behind second base to rob Will Smith of a lead-off single. Wainwright would then force A.J. Pollock into producing an infield pop-up before Matt Beaty would fly out to Dylan Carlson in right field to end the inning.
End of the second inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 0
Paul Goldschmidt, a .294 hitter this season, would lead off the third inning with a line-drive single to right-center but Scherzer would recover to strike out Tyler O’Neill on a slider away for the first out. Nolan Arenado would then hit a weak grounder down to first base, but the Dodgers would only go on to retire Goldschmidt at second on the force out due to how slowly the ball was struck. Scherzer would end the frame, having thrown 60 pitches, after Dylan Carlson would follow suit by grounding out to first base.
The former NL MVP Cody Bellinger, batting eighth, would lead off the bottom of the third and draw a lead-off walk to give the Dodgers a base runner. Max Scherzer would come to the plate for his first at-bat of the game and almost take a fastball to the face on a bunt attempt before eventually advancing Bellinger to second on the sacrifice to a standing ovation. The environment is electric in Los Angeles, even for a sacrifice bunt attempt. You love to see it. The drama would kick up a notch after Cardinals shortstop Edmundo Sosa would misplay a ball hit up the middle by Mookie Betts, which was ruled a single, to give the Dodgers a man of first and second for Corey Seager. The 2020 World Series MVP and upcoming free agent would start off his at-bat down 0-2 against Wainwright before working his way to a walk to load the bases for Trea Turner. The former Nationals all-star, being cheered on in the crowd by former teammate Juan Soto (who was wearing a Washington Turner jersey), would then earn his way to a full count but ultimately hit into a broken-bat double play to end the inning. Adam Wainwright, having gone to a full count of three consecutive hitters, would pump his fist while dancing off the mound after escaping the jam
End of the third inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 0
Scherzer would come back out for the fourth and collect two quick outs off the bats of Yadier Molina and Edmundo Sosa, but would then hit Harrison Bader on a full count with two outs to drive his pitch count to 75. The Dodgers ace would then make quick work of his opponent Adam Wainwright to end the frame with a strikeout, but Scherzer’s inefficiency is quickly becoming an issue early in the game.
The bottom of the fourth would kick off with a bang as Justin Turner would crush an Adam Wainwright hanging curveball an estimated 401 feet over the left-field fence to tie the game at one apiece. The 36-year-old entered the game batting.296 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI over 270 postseason at-bats. Wainwright would recover quickly to strike out Will Smith and A.J. Pollock back-to-back before Matt Beaty would pop up to the catcher Yadier Molina to end the fourth inning.
End of the fourth inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 1
Reinvigorated with a clean slate, Max Scherzer came out for the fifth looking for a quick inning. Instead, Tommy Edman greeted him with a broken-bat single over the second baseman’s head for a lead-off base hit. At this point, the Dodgers have started to loosen up Joe Kelly in the bullpen with Scherzer up to 84 pitches. Paul Goldschmidt would take the right-hander to his seventh three-ball count of the game, which was his season-high, before eventually walking to reach base for the third time of the game. Tyler O’Neill, who already struck out during the game, would start off in an 0-2 hole before finally being out away by an upstairs fastball for the first out of the inning but the final out of the game for Scherzer.
Dave Roberts would then make his way to the mound from the dugout to congratulate his starter, who would relinquish the ball reluctantly, and summon Joe Kelly from the bullpen to take over. Scherzer would end the night with one earned run on three hits and three walks over 4 ⅓ innings with four strikeouts.
Kelly would enter the game with two men on base but would generate a ground ball for a force-out at third off the bat of Nolan Arenado. A wild pitch would advance Paul Goldschmidt to third base to put runners at the corners for rookie Dylan Carlson. Joe Kelly would fall behind 3-0 but would grind his way back to strike out Carlson on a beautiful curveball to strand two and escape the top of the fifth inning.
Adam Wainwright faced off against Cody Bellinger to kick off the bottom of the fifth, who would become the right-hander’s fourth strikeout victim. Luke Raley would then enter the game as a pinch-hitter for Joe Kelly, but would also go down swinging before Mookie Betts would ground out weekly to Nolan Arenado at third to end the inning. Adam Wainwright is cruising at this point but at 83 pitches.
End of the fifth inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 1
Brusdar Graterol, who carried a 4.59 ERA this season over 33 ⅓ innings, entered the game to pitch in the top of the sixth for the Dodgers. The 23-year-old retired Yadier Molina and Edmundo Sosa quickly on ground balls, but would then hit Harrison Bader to give St. Louis a one-out baserunner to bring up Adam Wainwright who would ground out promptly to end the top half of the sixth.
Corey Seager led things off in the bottom of the frame, with hard-throwing Luis Garcia warming up in the Cardinals bullpen. Wainwright retired Seager on a grounder to short behind the bag but Trea Turner would then beat out the next groundball for an infield single. This would signal the end of the right-hander’s night, as the Cardinals would make their first call to the bullpen with Justin Turner coming to bat. Wainwright posted one run on four hits and two walks over 5 ⅓ innings with five strikeouts.
Right-hander Luis Garcia entered the game having allowed a run in four of his last eight appearances. However, he was able to jam Turner inside with a sinker to force a fly ball to left field for the second out. Garcia seemed to be highly interested in keeping Trea Turner honest at first base, throwing over to the bag every other pitch before ironically sending him to second base automatically after walking Will Smith. The inning would come to an end on a dramatic short chopper back to the pitcher that would end with a great play by Paul Goldschmidt to field a wide throw by Luis Garcia to end the threat and end the inning. This game seems destined for an exciting finish.
End of the sixth inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 1
Chris Taylor would check into the game for AJ Pollock in the top of the seventh as part of a double switch to bring Blake Treinen into the game. The 33-year-old would strike out Tommy Edman to kick things off before coaxing a ground ball from Paul Goldschmidt for the second out. Tyler O’Neill would then work a two-out walk to bring Nolan Arenado to the plate, who was 0-for-3, but who would ultimately foul out on the first base side to end the frame.
Luis Garcia stayed in the game for his second inning of work in the bottom of the seventh and surrendered a Cody Bellinger single to right field around a pair of outs to Matt Beaty (grounder) and Chris Taylor (pop-up). Mookie Betts then came to the plate having gone 2-for-3 with two singles and would have a man in scoring position after Cody Bellinger stole second base off Yadier Molina. Garcia would silence the home crowd though, after generating a weak fly ball to centerfield for the third out.
End of the seventh inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 1
Blake Treinen came back out to start the eighth inning, but with Billy McKinney taking over defensive duties at first base. Dylan Carlson would open the frame by tapping the ball past the shift on the third-base side where nobody was home for a free base hit. Yadier Molina would then go on to fly out to right, which would end with a controversial replay when Carlson passed second base but may not have retagged on his way back to first. After a lengthy umpire review, Carlson was ruled safe due to a lack of evidence to overturn and the inning continued. Treinen would then surrender a hard line drive to Edmundo Sosa that was caught by Chris Taylor in left but would be the last batter for the Dodgers reliever.
Corey Knebel would come on to face Harrison Bader with Dylan Carlson still lingering around on first base. After just missing the top of the zone with a tremendous snapping curveball, Knebel went back to the well to get Bader swinging on Uncle Charlie to end the top of the frame.
Giovanny Gallegos entered the game in the bottom of the eighth to face the heart of the Dodgers order having set the Cardinals franchise record with 11 saves in the month of September. The right-hander opened the frame by getting Corey Seager to chase a slider out of the zone, losing his helmet in the process, for the first out. Trea Turner would then follow up with a one-out line drive to left field to give Los Angeles a base runner with Justin Turner at the plate. Gallegos would bear down after a long at-bat to get Turner swinging on a breaking ball buried in the dirt for the second out. Will Smith ripped a ball that seemed like a sure-fire base hit off the bat but Paul DeJong, who just entered the game for defense, jumped up to rob the Dodgers catcher for the final out of the inning. Onto the ninth inning, we go tied at one each.
End of the eighth inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 1
The Dodgers brought in their closer Kenley Jansen to pitch the ninth inning and he worked his way ahead of Paul DeJong 0-2 before striking him out with an elevated fastball for the first out. Tommy Edman would then ambush the first pitch he saw from Jansen for a base hit to right field that would drop in front of Mookie Betts. Jansen would recover to strike out Paul Goldschmidt looking on a slider on the outside corner, but not before Tommy Edman would steal second base to give St. Louis a man in scoring position. Tyler O’Neill gave the home crowd a scare after narrowly missing a double down the right-field line that would barely go foul but would ultimately go down on a high fastball to send the game to the bottom of the ninth inning.
T.J McFarland was called upon to pitch the ninth inning after Gavin Lux was announced as the pinch-hitter, but was then replaced by none other than Albert Pujols. The baseball gods certainly have a sense of humor, but alas, the former Cardinals legend hit the ball on the screws but without enough elevation to make it beyond the centerfielder for the first out. Steven Souza would follow suit with a fly out of his own before Cody Bellinger would draw a two-out walk and force a pitching change.
In the most important game of the year, the Cardinals will turn to former closer Alex Reyes to escape the ninth and push the game to extra innings. Chris Taylor is the batter with the winning run on first base. Cody Bellinger would go on to steal second base and put the Dodgers one base hit away from victory. However, Chris Taylor had other plans. The veteran utility man smashed an Alex Reyes slider an estimated 420 feet over the left-centerfield fence to walk it off in dramatic fashion as the Dodgers win 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
End of the ninth inning: Cardinals 1 Dodgers 3
The home run was just the fifth walk-off HR in MLB history in a winner-take-all postseason game. The Dodgers will now take on their division rival San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series. This will be the first time ever that they have met in the postseason after one of the best division races in recent memory. Game one will take place on Friday with Logan Webb taken the mound for the Giants.
Quick Hits: Giants prospect Marco Luciano will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League. ... Brandon Belt (thumb) hopes to return for the NLCS, but no official timeline has been given. ... Red Sox manager Alex Cora expects JD Martinez (ankle) to be a game-time decision to make the ALDS roster. ... Eduardo Rodriguez will start Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday against the Rays. ... Padres fired manager Jayce Tingler. ... White Sox will start Lance Lynn in Game 1 of the ALDS versus the Astros. ... Theo Epstein will not be joining the Mets’ front office after meeting with team owner Steven Cohen.
