It wasn’t as long as Alex Cora‘s historic 18-pitch at-bat on May 12, 2004, against Chicago Cubs right-hander Matt Clement, but it was close. And even though it didn’t end with a home run into the Right Field Pavillion at Dodger Stadium, as did Cora’s, it did clear the bases with a three-run double and was every bit as epic.

It is, of course, the 14-pitch at-bat that Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor had against St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Génesis Cabrera in the bottom of the sixth inning on Monday night in front of a (COVID-19) sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd of 18,071.

“He was throwing a lot of strikes,” Taylor told reporters after the game. “You know, early in that at-bat, he fell behind, and after that, I think he threw almost all strikes after that. It’s not like I was laying off tough pitches there 3-2; I was swinging at every pitch.”

Taylor roped the 14th – and final – pitch of his epic at-bat to the wall in right-center field, scoring Justin Turner from third, Cody Bellinger from second, and Will Smith from first to turn a 3-3 tie into a (then) 6-3 Dodgers lead in the eventual 9-4 Dodgers win.

“That was just a huge at-bat. I just can’t say enough about that at-bat,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “He just wasn’t going to be denied. C.T. was just relentless in that at-bat, and it’s probably the best one we’ve had this year. The guy was up there throwing 97, 98 mph, breaking ball, changeup.”

During the at-bat, Taylor fouled off nine pitches, including four in a row twice.

Well done, CT3!

Play Ball!

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