The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros kept their World Series dreams alive after recording huge comeback wins in the League Championship Series on Tuesday night. The Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox looked to be on their way to posting commanding leads in their respective series, but they crumbled in the late innings against the Dodgers and the Astros.
Bellinger electrifies crowd with game-tying blast in the 8th inning
The late drama first unfolded in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. The Braves headed to Los Angeles with momentum on their side after posting walk-off wins in Games 1 and 2. They continued their fine play in Game 3 with the Braves holding a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning.
There is no quit with the Dodgers, though. The Braves learned that the hard way in last year's NLCS when they squandered a 3-1 lead against the Dodgers. This time around, Cody Bellinger provided the spark for LA, hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning to tie the game at 5-5.
What made Bellinger's blast even more impressive was that it came off a 96 mph pitch that crossed the plate 4.12 feet off the ground. No one in the majors has homered on a pitch at that speed during the playoffs since 2008. To further add to its difficulty, Bellinger had not hit a home run on a pitch out of the strike zone this season.
Mookie Betts then gave the Dodgers the lead a few batters later, hitting a double into the fence to score Chris Taylor. Kenley Jansen sealed the win for the Dodgers in the top of the ninth inning, striking out the side to cut the Braves lead in the NLCS to 2-1.
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Astros stun Red Sox with 7-run 9th inning to tie series
Game 4 of the ALCS also provided nail-biting action in the closing stages. The Red Sox entered the top of the eighth inning with a 2-1 lead, but that advantage quickly evaporated when Jose Altuve homered off reliever Garrett Whitlock to tie the game at 2-2.
That boosted the morale of the Astros, who broke the game wide open in the ninth inning. Jason Castro opened the floodgates for Houston, hitting an 87 mph cutter from Nathan Eovaldi to right field for a two-out RBI single to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
Michael Brantley then hit a three-run double off Martin Perez moments later to give Houston a 6-2 advantage. Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa, and Kyle Tucker then hit consecutive singles to stretch the Astros' lead to 9-2. The seven runs that the Astros scored in the ninth inning came with two outs, making the collapse even more painful for the Red Sox. They now head to Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2.
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