ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Taylor was certain his line drive was hooking foul.
A deflection by Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley changed the path of the ball — and the outcome of a dramatic showdown between the last two World Series champions.
Taylor had three hits, including the go-ahead double in the 11th inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-3 win over the Braves on Sunday night.
Taylor’s double off Darren O’Day (1-2) glanced off Riley’s glove as Cody Bellinger scored from third base.
“When I hit it, I knew it was going to hook foul,” Taylor said. “I’m just glad he didn’t catch it. Then I realized he kind of hit it into fair territory.”
Trea Turner padded the lead with a run-scoring single to center field.
The Dodgers, who scored two runs in the ninth to force extra innings, won two of three games in the weekend series that featured Freddie Freeman’s emotional return to Atlanta.
Freeman’ capped the series on a high note, with his double down the right-field line to lead off the 10th giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. With Turner opening the 10th on second base, Freeman’s double off Will Smith drove in the go-ahead run. It was the second hit of the game for Freeman, who also had two strikeouts.
“I’m emotionally drained,” Freeman said.
The Dodgers won the season series 4-2 and the teams won’t play again — unless they meet again in the postseason after playing in the last two NL championship series.
“I don’t think I’ll have one cheer if I come back in October,” Freeman said.
Brusdar Graterol pitched a scoreless 11th for his first career save.
Atlanta’s Kenley Jansen and the Dodgers’ Craig Kimbrel (1-3) each had blown saves against their former teams. Jansen gave up two runs in the ninth to blow a 2-0 lead, and Kimbrel…
Leave a Reply