He thumped his chest twice while leaving the batter’s box, and all of Dodgers Nation rocked to the beat.
Andy Pages did it. He finally did it. He finally broke out of his disconcerting two-year slump in October with a hit so powerful he didn’t even need to climb over Kiké Hernández to get it.
What power? In one fell swoop, he broke a tie by scoring two runs while sending off two teams, the Atlanta Braves returning home for the winter and the Dodgers launching into the National League Championship Series.
Yeah, it was a blast, both figuratively and literally, Pages’ two-out, two-strike laden single in the seventh inning Wednesday night, silencing the lame tomahawk-cutting fans at Truist Park and giving the Dodgers an eventual 4-1 victory over the Braves in the National League Division Series.
Dodger Andy Pages hits a two-run single against the Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday in Atlanta.
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Granted, it gets even harder from here. By winning this best-of-five series three-to-one, the Dodgers can now prepare for a best-of-seven showdown task against the mighty Milwaukee Brewers or the blazing San Diego Padres.
Yes, they’ll need to hit better, they’ll need Blake Snell to focus, they’ll need Shohei Ohtani to step up.
But…Andy Pages! Seriously! If a guy who was seven for 66 in the last two postseasons and was so helpless last year that he was on the bench for the last three games of the World Series…if this guy can drive in the winning run from the bottom of the order? The once fallible Dodgers might just be unbeatable.
“There’s no team more talented than the Los Angeles Dodgers,” shouted manager Dave Roberts in the clubhouse postgame. “We are the best organization in sports, top to bottom. We are smarter, we are better and we are tougher.”
At that point, someone referenced a recent comment by Padres owner José E. Feliciano insinuating that the Dodgers, baseball’s oldest team, were made up of dinosaurs.
“And we are dinosaurs!” » shouted a voice above the din of the clubhouse.
If they are dinosaurs, their first initial is “T” and their last name is “Rex.”
There’s nothing wrong with starting to think seriously about a hat-trick now. They’re down to eight wins, but, given the mediocrity of American League playoff teams, they could realistically be down to four wins.
We’re guessing the NLCS will be the real World Series. And I guess the Dodgers will be ready.
Pages, who captured the hearts of Dodgers fans last October when he made a jumping catch off the back of Kiké Hernández, got his first big swing of October thanks to the Braves’ largesse.
In the scoreless seventh inning, Teoscar Hernández redeemed himself for another defensive error with a single that ultimately chased the dizzying Tyler Mahle from the game.
Game 2 rookie sensation Didier Fuentes arrived, but this time he was all rookie and zero sensation, walking Josue De Paula and Kyle Tucker to load the bases. Considering De Paula is just a kid and Tucker struggled, the fact that the two showed such patience in such a pressure situation was pretty cool. And a few moments later, it got even cooler.
Veteran reliever Robert Suarez arrived, and Pages was ready for him, working the count to the max before lining the two-run single up the middle.
The Dodgers added a run two innings later on a Max Muncy home run – has there ever been a playoff game where he didn’t hit a home run? — to finalize the score.
Dodger Max Muncy celebrates after hitting a home run in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the NLDS against the Braves in Atlanta on Wednesday.
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
When the game ended on an Austin Riley fly to right field, Pages celebrated in center field by removing his cap, turning his face skyward, and thrusting the cap into his glove three times.
It was a series worth the excitement, with the Dodgers’ famous starting rotation allowing just four runs in 21 ⅓ innings, the strong bullpen behind a resurgent Edwin Díaz and the offense doing just enough to beat Braves aces Chris Sale and Mahle.
In the fifth inning of a tie game, starter Tyler Glasnow allowed walks to Riley and Michael Harris II. With two outs, Alex Vesia entered. Stepped up slugger Matt Olson. The fans stood up. It was the Braves’ big chance.
Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz throws the ball against the Braves in Game 4 of the ninth inning of the NLDS on Wednesday in Atlanta.
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
But Olson swung to the first pitch and fielded it directly to second baseman Kiké Hernández to end the threat and quiet the joint. Díaz pitched a no-hit ninth for his second save of the series and… who’s going to beat them?
Afterward, Roberts referenced nearly half of his team when talking about how proud he was. He talked about Pages’ hit, De Paula’s walk, reliever Edgardo Henriquez’s 1 ⅔ shutout, Muncy’s bat and Freddie Freeman’s glove.
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“I guess, amazement,” he said. “Our guys keep fighting, keep persevering. You never know who that guy is going to be.”
The only glaring weakness was, once again, the superstar who was their strength. Ohtani scored the Dodgers’ first run after drawing a walk, but went hitless in the next three at-bats. He only had two hits during the four-game series and one has to wonder if his injury-ravaged body would be better off out of the lineup.
How well do they play without the full services of their most historic player? On the verge of making history, the Dodgers don’t even miss it.
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