In 1985, 17-year Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver was asked by a reporter if he felt that momentum from one game could carry over into the next game. After pondering the question for a moment, the Hall of Fame manager answered with a straight face:

“Momentum? Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.“

In Game-2 of the 2020 National League Championship Series on Tuesday night between the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the NL East champion Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing the Braves by a score of 8-3. When the dust finally settled, and even though they came up one run short, the Dodgers had scored four runs to turn that 8-3 laugher into an 8-7 nail-biter; and make no mistake about it, Braves manager Brian Snitker and his entire team took notice.

On Wednesday afternoon and the Dodgers down two games to none in the best-of-seven series, the momentum that the great Earl Weaver had scoffed at 35 years earlier came into play in biblical proportions. In fact, it began on the very first pitch of the game, when Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts reached first base on a bang-bang infield single, which was followed one pitch later by an RBI double off the bat of Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager.

When the third out of that top of the first inning was finally recorded, the ‘visiting’ Dodgers had scored 11 runs, and when the final out of the bottom of the ninth inning was recorded, the Dodger won that crucial Game-3 by a score of 15-3.

The Dodgers sent 14 batters to the plate in the first inning, tying a MLB postseason record for a first frame. Seager and Betts both scored twice. Braves starter Kyle Wright was removed from the game, having made 28 pitches (12 strikes) with an ERA of 94.50. Ten of those 11 first-inning runs were scored with two outs in a half-inning that took 32 minutes.

Momentum indeed.

“It got us going, and then from there, you saw what happened. [Betts leadoff single] was a really, really close play, and it turned in our favor,” Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson said after the game. “For some reason, that just … lit a match in everyone, and we were really excited and just ran with that momentum.”

“That was a big inning for us, we kind of built off of last night,” said Seager, who is now 11-for-30 (.367) thus far this postseason with three home runs and 11 RBIs. “It was kind of nice to see it translate into today’s game.”

Are you beginning to see a pattern here?

“We were struggling to get going there, and towards the end of the game last night, we started finding our stride,” said Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy, who hit a grand slam home run in Wednesday’s historical first inning. “And the biggest thing for us is just try to carry that over to the beginning of this game. We were able to do that.”

The pattern continues.

“Obviously, the infield hit by Mookie started us off, and then Corey going the other way, and I just realized that we got all those runs with two outs,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after the game. “Just really good at-bats, just good at-bats.

“We hit some homers and took some walks, just a really, obviously, well-played inning, and I do think that last night’s ninth bled over into tonight,” Roberts added.

Sorry, Earl – momentum confirmed.

Oh, and as far as that “…next day’s starting pitcher” thing, that would be Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.

Play Ball!

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