In Battle of Rivals, the Dodgers Outlast the Giants to Reach the N.L.C.S.
The New York Times
A late single by Cody Bellinger was the difference in a hard-fought pitching matchup between 109-win teams.
SAN FRANCISCO — Into the late innings they went, tied in the sixth, tied in the seventh, eighth and ninth. It was the 24th time the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants played this season, with the margin between baseball’s two best teams still as thin as the outside edge of an umpire’s strike zone.
Two teams with 109 victories, regular season plus postseason, bitter rivals and nobody wanting to go home. Until, finally, it was time: Unable to catch the Giants in the regular season and now stretching this best-of-five National League division series as far as it could go, the Dodgers nicked the Giants rookie closer, Camilo Doval, for two one-out base runners in the ninth on Thursday night before Cody Bellinger turned on a slider, redirecting the 87-mile-per-hour pitch onto the grass, where right fielder Austin Slater and center fielder Kris Bryant could do nothing but watch it land.
Justin Turner raced home from second, Max Scherzer worked the ninth to collect the first save of his career, and the 2-1 victory sent the Dodgers on to Atlanta, where they will open the N.L. Championship Series on Saturday night.
