Zero to Playoff Hero: Cody Bellinger's Hit Seals Epic, Controversial Dodgers Win

Before the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants even took the field for Game 5 of the National League Division Series, legendary broadcaster Vin Scully posted a rare tweet calling it the "most important game" in the history of the two teams' long-running rivalry.

He, of course, would know. And yet, even one so wise as Scully couldn't have known that the third do-or-die showdown between the Dodgers and Giants would be infused with enough drama and controversy to also make it one of the greatest games they've ever played.

As far as the Dodgers are concerned, the only thing that matters is they walked away from Oracle Park on Thursday with a 2-1 victory. They got their runs on two RBI knocks, including the big one for the lead in the ninth inning courtesy of goat-turned-hero Cody Bellinger:

All the reigning World Series champions needed after that was for 37-year-old Max Scherzer, by trade an ace starter with three Cy Young Awards, to finish off the game for the first save of his professional career. And finish it he did, notably by striking out the last two batters.

Alas, the latter of those two strikeouts was determined by what could come to be known as The Check Swing Heard 'Round the World. Because while first base umpire Gabe Morales ruled that Wilmer Flores didn't check his swing on an 0-2 slider, it sure looked like he did.

Regardless, the series is over. It's a pity not just for the Giants, who depart for the winter knowing that their nemesis is on to face Atlanta in the National League Championship Series, but for any baseball fan who enjoyed watching these two teams go at it in 2021.

It's ultimately all there in the records, both in terms of how many games the Dodgers (110) and Giants (109) won individually but also in how they split their 24-game season series: right down the middle, with 12 wins apiece.

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Dodgers Players of the Game

• 1B/CF Cody Bellinger: 1-for-4, 1 RBI. See above.
• SS Corey Seager: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI. Though the lead it gave the Dodgers didn't last long, his RBI double in the sixth opened the scoring.
• RF Mookie Betts: 4-for-4, 1 SB, 1 R. He preceded Seager's go-ahead hit in the sixth with a single and a stolen base. By the end, he was the first hitter in Dodgers history to collect four hits in a postseason elimination game, per ESPN Stats and Info.
• LHP Julio Urias: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 R, 5 K. The Dodgers pulled a fast one by starting out with two relievers before inserting Urias, but the young left-hander more than did his part with four mostly brilliant innings of work. 

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Giants Players of the Game

• RHP Logan Webb: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 7 K. He followed up his excellent outing in Game 1 with yet another stellar showcase on Thursday. Given that he also put up a 3.03 ERA in the regular season, it's fair to say the Giants' next ace has arrived.
• LF Darin Ruf: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI. Not long after Seager's double, Ruf answered with a booming 452-foot home run in the bottom half of the inning. Albeit in defeat now, the 35-year-old journeyman can look back proudly on what was easily his best season as a major leaguer. 

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Cody Bellinger, Fallen MVP, Is Redeemed

With runners on first and second with one out, the odds were technically in the Dodgers' favor when Bellinger strode to the plate to face Camilo Doval in the ninth. To be exact, FanGraphs had Los Angeles' chances of winning at 58.1 percent.

But if any Dodgers fans intuitively felt the real odds were much lower at that moment, well, they can be forgiven.

After all, the Bellinger of 2021 didn't quite resemble his MVP-winning self from 2019 or even the less dominant but still good version of him that showed up to last year's shortened season. This new Bellinger was downright bad, hitting just .165 and slipping well below replacement level with minus-1.5 rWAR.

To be fair, his struggles were less a story of incompetence and more one of injuries. The 26-year-old entered the year still recovering from right shoulder surgery, and he subsequently spent time on the injured list with a broken leg and hamstring tightness.

Though Bellinger picked it up by going 4-for-13 with two walks through the National League Wild Card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals and the first four games of the NLDS, how much any of that even mattered when Bellinger got into the box was a good question. Especially against a pitcher like Doval.

Even if he didn't quite approach his high of 104.5 mph from his time in the minors, the young right-hander didn't throw anything slower than 99 mph in Games 1 and 3 of the NLDS. He thus had the goods to handle Bellinger, who hit just .143 against 95-plus mph fastballs in the regular season.

But, for whatever reason, Doval started Bellinger with a slider. He then threw another, and then another. By the fourth one, the jig was up and Bellinger added another clutch postseason hit to a resume that already included huge knocks in both the 2018 and 2020 iterations of the National League Championship Series.

Per Juan Toribio of MLB.com, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman summed it up well:

"He's been in so many big spots in his young career, and I think his ability to slow it down and how hard he's worked to put himself in a big position to get a big hit shouldn't get lost in all of this. Obviously [he] struggled throughout the regular season, but it never stopped him from working and grinding."

Bellinger may not be so fortunate the next time he faces a power pitcher in these playoffs, but the Dodgers can worry about that another day. The important part now is that a player who had been a huge liability for them is suddenly not only functional but integral again.

AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn

Also newly established in the integral column is Betts, who likewise came alive in the NLDS after a season that was good but also not up to his typical MVP-caliber standards. Even before collecting four hits on Thursday, he was the man in the middle in the Dodgers' 7-2 win in Game 4.

Then there's the pitching. Goodness, is there the pitching.

After spotting the Giants four runs in Game 1, the Dodgers permitted them only six runs over the next four contests. That wasn't the doing of one, two or even three key pitchers. It was a true group effort, aided by everyone from Urias to Scherzer to Walker Buehler to Kenley Jansen to Blake Treinen to Corey Knebel to Joe Kelly.

Some credit should also be given to the man at the control panel. At no point did Dodgers manager Dave Roberts push a pitching button that didn't work.

The biggest risk he took—no doubt with full approval from his front office—was opening with Knebel for Game 5 in lieu of simply handing the ball to Urias. A bit too cute? Maybe. But it was strategically sound, and it obviously paid off.

It all adds up to a solid list of reasons for why the Dodgers, who won 106 games in the regular season, were able to get past the Giants, who did them one better with 107. It's now debatable as to whether any of the teams left in the playoff field can stop them, much less an Atlanta club that captured only 88 victories this season.

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Yes, the Giants Got Hosed

What is a swing, you ask?

At least in theory, not this:

That is not a swing. A swing is not that. Ergo, Flores did not swing and the count should have been 1-2. Not exactly an advantageous count, but better that than, you know, a season-ending strikeout.

We're speaking subjectively here, but only because we have to. As Rodger Sherman of The Ringer (and many others) noted on Twitter, Major League Baseball's rulebook doesn't offer clear explanations for what differentiates a swing from a check swing. Check swings therefore fall into that gray area of events that require an umpire's discretion.

To this end, Morales called it as he saw it:

In fairness to Morales, his call doesn't look so bad if the only replay you see is that of the center-field camera with no slow motion. He had a better view from his perch behind first base, but not that much better than any casual TV viewer's in real time.

It makes sense, then, that Giants manager Gabe Kapler was in an understanding mood after the game:

Good sportsmanship aside, this is a case where justice is needed.

Though MLB obviously can't trot the Dodgers and Giants back out to Oracle Park and have them redo the ninth inning, it can and must pursue changes to the rules and replay protocols. The former should get long-overdue specifications on what constitutes a check swing, and the latter need to be expanded so managers can actually challenge what umpires might have missed in a fraction of a second.

This way, any future Flores-like catastrophes might be avoided.

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What's Next for the Dodgers?

For the second time in as many years, it's Dodgers vs. Atlanta in the National League Championship Series. It's a best-of-seven series that will begin at Truist Park on Saturday.

Fresh off his first career save, the Dodgers are planning on starting Scherzer in Game 1. At the time of writing, Atlanta hasn't announced its opening starter, but it'll likely be left-hander Max Fried, who last pitched in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, Oct. 9.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.