Dodgers right-hander and 2018 NLCS Game-7 starter Walker Buehler said it best:

“That’s going to go down as one of the biggest catches in this organization’s history, man.”

Dodgers center fielder and 2018 NLCS MVP Cody Bellinger concurs:

“That was the catch of the year. I don’t know what would happen if he doesn’t make that catch.”

So, too, does Dodgers manager Dave Roberts:

“I thought the game was tied. CT gets a great break on the ball and really a game-saving play.”

That catch, of course, was the absolutely incredible – if not impossible – over the shoulder leaping, twisting, awkward catch made by Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor on a line drive hit by Milwaukee Brewers right fielder and soon-to-be 2018 National League MVP Christian Yelich with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, with the tying run on second base.

At the time, the Dodgers were nursing a precarious 2-1 lead, and if that ball gets down, Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain easily scores and Yelich replaces him at second base representing the potential go-ahead run.

It didn’t happen.

“It’s so loud in there, calling for the ball does no good,” a champagne-soaked Chris Taylor told reporters after the game. “I thought it was going to be further in the gap, I thought it was going to be Belly’s ball.

“My original route, I had to kind of banana back toward the wall,” Taylor added. “I’m just glad I was able to make the adjustment, make the play.”

Make the play he did.

Taylor’s catch in Game-7 of the NLCS is definitely among the greatest in franchise history. And though we will never know what might have happened if he didn’t make it, it quite possibly could have been the difference in the Dodgers going to their second consecutive World Series or not.
(Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports – Click on image to view video)

You think CT3 might have been a little pumped after his insane catch?
(Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)

Not only did CT3’s spectacular catch pump himself up, it pumped up his teammates as well.

In the top half of the sixth inning and with the raucous Miller Park crowd (and Brewers players) still stunned over Taylor’s great catch, Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy and third baseman Justin Turner led off the inning with back-to-back singles. This was followed by a fly out to right by Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado and a ground ball force out of Turner at second base, with the speedy Bellinger replacing him at first. That speedy Belly thing is crucial, as it kept the Dodgers out of an inning-ending double play, thereby bringing Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig to the plate with two outs and runners at the corners.

On a 1-1 count, Puig absolutely crushed an 82.8-MPH curveball (that appeared to be off the plate) off of Brewers right-hander Jeremy Jeffress for a three-run home run to center field, which immediately silenced the crowd for good.

…and it was beautiful.

Because of his remarkable strength, Puig was able to drive Jeffress’ curveball over the center field wall to give the Dodgers a comfortable 5-1 lead and eventual final score. (Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)

If the name Jeremy Jeffress sounds familiar to you, it well should. If you recall, the 31-year-old South Boston, Virginia native effectively put his foot in his mouth after the Dodgers exciting 4-3 come-from-behind win in Game-1 of the NLCS.

“He just got lucky,” Jeffress told reporters of the bases loaded walk he issued to Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes in the top of the seventh inning.

“He got lucky,” Jeffress added, of the two-run home run he served up to Turner in the top of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers the lead and the win.

Oops.

As the great Thomas Jefferson once said: “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

Enjoy watching the lucky Dodgers in World Series on TV, Jeremy.

Play Ball!