October 17th, 2021 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka A base-running blunder of epic proportion and a lack of timely hitting have put the Dodgers down one game to none to the Atlanta Brave in the 2021 National League Championship Series.
With two outs and the game tied 2-2 in the top ninth inning, normally reliable Dodgers centerfielder Chris Taylor drew a two-out walk, which was followed by a base hit to short right field by suddenly (and thankfully) smoking-hot Cody Bellinger. But for reasons only he knows and representing the go-ahead run, Taylor unwisely decided to try for third base … until he didn’t. Midway between second and third, Taylor suddenly slammed on the brakes and tried to return to second base.
He didn’t make it.
Former Dodger and now Braves right fielder Joc Pederson made a perfect throw to Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson, to catch Taylor in a run down between he and Braves third baseman Austin Riley, with Swanson easily tagging Taylor out “from me to you,” as Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully used to say.
“It was just a bad read,” Taylor said, following the Braves 3-2 walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. “I saw it barely got over [second baseman Ozzie] Albies‘ head, and thought I could get to third. I didn’t realize Joc got it so quick and tried to stop. Just, I should’ve kept going. You don’t want to make the last out there when we’re in scoring position.”
(Video capture courtesy of TBS Sports)
But for as bad as Taylor’s baserunning blunder was, and it was real bad, it was the lack of timely hitting that has the Dodger down a game in the best-of seven NLCS. On the night, Roberts’ team left 11 men on base.
“We prevented runs all night,” Roberts said postgame. “We didn’t not win the game because we didn’t prevent runs. We just didn’t get the hits when we needed.”
The silver lining to all of this is that it was only Game-1 of (potentially) seven, and the Dodgers will send future Hall of Fame right-hander Max Scherzer to the mound for Game-2 on Sunday. The Dodgers will the return to the tomahawk-chop-less friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, where they will send right-hander Walker Buehler to the mound on Tuesday, followed by left-hander Julio Urias on Wednesday … so there’s that.
Play Ball!
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Johnny Wholestaff pitched pretty good… but was it worth it?
Is it really that hard, especially at the professional level, picking up the third base coach as you’re rounding second base? I mean, that’s one of the reasons Dino’s standing there, right?
It was a very evenly played game by both teams, somebody had to lose.