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Dodgers: Insane double play keeps LAD in game in fourth

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Dodgers Way

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 18: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves is tagged out by Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rundown between third base and home plate during the fourth inning in Game Seven of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field on October 18, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The Dodgers were on the verge of slipping WAY down to the Braves…before fate, and Austin Riley, intervened.

Oh, Braves. Oh, Atlanta Braves. What would the Dodgers do without you?

Every chance this team has to put away the NLCS, they figure out an intriguing way to muddy the waters.

Up 3-1 in the series and 2-0 in Game 5, on the verge of running away with things, Marcell Ozuna got caught off third at the wrong time on a Mookie Betts shoestring catch, and Will Smith made ’em pay with a clutch homer off his namesake a few innings later.

In Game 7, we saw much of the same. And this time? It was TOOTBLAN.

With runners on first and second and a run already in against Tony Gonsolin, the calls were loud for veteran Nick Markakis to lay down a bunt. Why not, right? He’s the king of bat control! Nobody was out! But when a wayward pitch bounced away from Travis d’Arnaud, the argument was rendered moot.

Unfortunately, on the grounder Markakis struck to third a few pitches later, the Braves’ baserunners acted like they were still kind of prepared for the bunt that would never come.

What. Was. This?!

Dansby Swanson getting caught in no man’s land? Sure, we can understand that. Sad and unfortunate baseball thing. It happens. Shoutout to Justin Turner with the cat-like reflexes.

But why on God’s Green Earth was Austin Riley sprinting for third? And why did he seemingly make the decision to sprint for third at the exact second that Swanson was tagged for the inning’s first out?

We’ve seen teams kill their own rallies before, but perhaps never this spectacularly.

We hope the Braves learned their lesson here … but we hope it doesn’t really sink in until next year.

For the duration of this game, by all means, keep messing around! Don’t listen to Ron Washington! Just do you!

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard and Dodgers Way for 4 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast twice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for eight years. Previously, he was a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.