LOS ANGELES (AP) — World Series champion and Virginia Beach native Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 in a scintillating NL wild-card game.
The 106-win Dodgers advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against the rival Giants. Game 1 is Friday night in San Francisco.
The sellout crowd of 53,193 hung on every pitch as the tension of a tie game built from the fourth inning on.
Cody Bellinger drew a two-out walk from T.J. McFarland in the ninth. Alex Reyes came in to face Taylor, and Bellinger stole second.
Taylor, a Cox High School product, then sent a 2-1 pitch into the left-field pavilion, triggering an explosion of cheers from the sellout crowd.
