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The Los Angeles Dodgers are safely locked into the No. 3 seed in the playoff bracket and will open the MLB Postseason against one of the Cincinnati Reds or the New York Mets next Tuesday. Nothing that happens in the final two days of the regular season will change that outcome.
So what do Dodgers fans have to look forward to this weekend? How about the downfall of one of the biggest phonies in Major League Baseball — the Houston Astros. You remember the Astros, right? That plucky group of youngsters led by Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa that upended the Dodgers in seven games during the 2017 World Series?
Of course, it wasn't revealed until a few years later that Houston was using technology to illegally steal signs throughout the 2017 season and the postseason. Despite that, the Astros were never stripped of their (illegitimate) World Series, and that still irritates Dodgers fans to this day.
Dodgers fan favorite Chris Taylor just got 2017 revenge on Astros with playoff race-changing hit
Perhaps the LA faithful can appreciate the fact that one of the heroes from the Dodgers' 2017 World Series run was instrumental in (perhaps) derailing Houston's pursuit of a return to the MLB Postseason. The Astros are hoping to get back to the playoffs for the ninth straight season, but former Dodgers utility player Chris Taylor may have delivered the death knell on Friday night.
The Astros were nursing a one-run lead heading into the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels, and with two outs and runner on second, a chess match unfolded between Houston manager Joe Espada and Halos interim manager Ray Montgomery, immediately after an Angels runner had been dramatically gunned down on the base paths at third.
Yoán Moncada came on to pinch hit, and Espada countered with left-handed reliever Bryan King. Montgomery, preferring to go with a right-handed bat, turned to Taylor, and the former Dodgers fan-favorite came up huge. An opposite-field single fell in front of the Astros' right fielder, and Denzer Guzman beat the throw home. With the score still tied in the eighth, Mike Trout blasted his 25th homer of the season, and Astros fell by a final score of 4-3.
Houston is now staring down elimination during the final weekend of the season. In order to get back to the playoffs, the Astros have to win out, and both the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians need to lose their final two games. According to FanGraphs, Houston's playoff odds are a sitting at 15.8%. If the Astros are sitting at home this October, Taylor's clutch base knock could be a big reason why.