For a guy who dislikes drama, Chris Taylor sure provided plenty of it.
Taylor on Thursday hit three homers and drove in six runs, joining the likes of Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth in October baseball lore, as the Los Angeles Dodgers broke loose at the plate to beat Atlanta 11-2, cutting the Braves’ lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.
“It’s cool. It’s definitely a surreal feeling for me,” Taylor said. “I never thought I was going to hit three homers in a game, let alone a post-season game, and it just still hasn’t really sunk in.”
Photo: AFP
A.J. Pollock had two home runs and four RBIs for defending champions the Dodgers, who have won seven straight post-season elimination games dating to last season. They also trailed 0-2 and 1-3 against Atlanta in the championship series last year before rallying to win three straight at a neutral venue in Texas.
“We needed to make a statement,” the mild-mannered Taylor said. “They put it on us yesterday [Wednesday]. We had to respond.”
Game 6 is today in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Braves get two more chances to clinch their first trip to the World Series since 1999.
“I guess when our backs are against the wall we play our best and fight, but that’s just not an ideal spot to be in,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
After mustering only four hits during a 9-2 loss in Game 4 that pushed them to the brink of elimination, the desperate Dodgers rapped out eight hits by the third inning off Max Fried.
They finished with 17, a club record for a post-season game, and also equaled a post-season franchise mark with five home runs.
The Dodgers got to Fried with four consecutive hits in the second inning. Pollock hit a tying homer and Taylor drove the first pitch he saw to left field, putting Los Angeles in front for good, 3-2.
Starting in place of injured Justin Turner at third base, Taylor became the second Dodgers player with a three-homer game in the playoffs. Kike Hernandez also did it in Game 5 of the 2017 championship series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field as Los Angeles won their first pennant in 29 years.
Taylor had an RBI single in the third to make it 4-2. He went deep in the fifth, sending an 0-2 pitch from Chris Martin to center field and extending the lead to 6-2.
Taylor homered again in the seventh, taking Dylan Lee out to left-center, before taking a curtain call in the dugout.
“I never look cool doing anything,” Taylor said.
The veteran had an opportunity to match the major league mark of four home runs in a game, but struck out swinging to end the eighth.
“I was trying not to think about it,” Taylor said. “Usually I’m just trying to hit line drives.”
Taylor also hit a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against St Louis in the National League wild-card game for the 106-win Dodgers.
“He’s just super calm and he’s so consistent for us,” Pollock said. “Maybe the three home runs might have spiked his adrenaline, but probably not.”
Albert Pujols was not just hugging, he was hitting, too.
The 41-year-old slugger got on base three times, including a walk, and scored twice on Taylor’s homers. He got two singles for his third and fourth hits of the post-season in his second start. He had two hits in the National League Division Series against San Francisco.
Pujols has taken to greeting his much younger teammates with bear hugs in the dugout after home runs, and they kept him busy.
Pujols is among the 11 players with a three-homer game in the post-season. Ruth accomplished the feat twice in the World Series.
“Watching Chris doing that, it was pretty special,” Pujols said. “I was actually rooting for four, but he ended up striking out, but he did a heck of a job out there.”
Los Angeles got a clutch performance from its bullpen, too, after opener Joe Kelly allowed a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the first inning and exited after 28 pitches with tightness in his biceps.
Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Corey Knebel and Kenley Jansen combined to allow just three hits the rest of the way.
Phillips struck out three in 1-1/3 innings and was credited with the win.
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