Misery to Elation: 13 Inning with the Los Angeles Dodgers

You thought watching Game 4 of the NLCS on TV was agonizing? Try watching the Los Angeles Dodgers battle and struggle for 13 innings live.

Down 2-1 in the NLCS to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Los Angeles Dodgers took their fans on a roller coaster ride in game four.

I was there for all 13 innings, with thousands of other fans who rose to the challenge to be loud and boisterous for the Dodgers.

What we witnessed was nothing short of misery. The game of baseball reduced to lively balls and broken bats.

A day after setting a playoff record with 14 strikeouts, the Dodgers batters went ahead and broke the record, striking out 17 times. The Dodgers pitching was equal to the task, striking out the Brewers hitters 15 times.

By the time all was said and done, I and my fellow Dodgers fans had witnessed 5 hours and 15 minutes of baseball, the longest in playoff Dodgers history and the second longest NLCS game by time.

For all that great pitching (or bad hitting) Dodgers fans were rewarded with a walk-off single by Cody Bellinger to score Manny Machado giving the Dodgers a 2-1 win.

In one instant moment Bellinger erased a miserable 2-13 NLCS to give the Dodgers a walk-off playoff win a year and a day apart from their last one.

The remaining fans in attendance let off a celebration worthy of the moment, a day after being referred to as low energy by Dodgers player Kike Hernandez, Dodgers fans were loud and boisterous through out the game.

Waving their rally towels the Dodgers fans tried to will hits and runs out of the Dodgers but to no avail.

In the first inning the Dodgers scored a run on a Brian Dozier single, they would not get another run for 13 more innings. Dodgers fans did not stay quiet as they coaxed five strong innings out of Dodgers starter Rich Hill and then cheered on 8 innings of the Dodgers bullpen.

Despite not getting as much publicity as the vaunted Brewers bullpen the Dodgers bullpen has kept the Brewers bats quiet since the sixth inning of game two. The Dodgers bullpen has yet to give up a run since then.

In game four eight Dodgers relievers scattered five hits while striking out nine batters to keep the team in the game until the offense finally showed up.

So what did we learn over 13 innings?

If the Dodgers want to repeat as National League champions their bats have to wake up in what is now a best of three series.  The Dodgers bullpen has been challenged and been the biggest asset so far.

After witnessing the Los Angeles Dodgers biggest win of the year (despite the strikeouts), there’s nothing left to say but…”I was there.”