Dodgers Dugout: Hey, save some runs for the rest of the series

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and what is with Chris Taylor striking out in his last at-bat? Bench him.

Game 5 thoughts

—At some point in the 11-2 shellacking of the Atlanta Braves in Game 5, the thought became, “Save some runs for the weekend.”

—If anyone deserved a three-homer game on the Dodgers, it was Taylor, who has been the unsung star of the Dodgers for the last few seasons, playing wherever he was needed and performing well while guys such as Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner and Mookie Betts got most of the notice.

—Another thing about Taylor: He hits his third home run and he just puts his head down and runs the bases. He didn’t stop to admire it longingly, didn’t draw attention to himself, just went around the bases like Mickey Hatcher. And I’m not bashing people who watch their home runs, I think people should have fun playing the game. It’s just that a guy like Taylor stands out now.

—“You’ve got to take the lows with the highs. It’s a game of failures. ... Then there’s moments like tonight, where that’s what makes it worth it,” Taylor said. “It’s definitely a surreal feeling for me. ... I never thought I was going to hit three homers in a game, let alone a postseason game.”

—And then there’s AJ Pollock. The forgotten outfielder who quietly put together his best offensive season, hitting .297/.355/.536, picking up some of the slack from a struggling Cody Bellinger. And then his two-homer game gets overshadowed by a three-homer game.

—It’s official that Justin Turner will not play again this postseason. He was replaced on the roster by Andy Burns, who can play any infield position and appeared nine games with the Dodgers this season, going three for 11 with a double and three walks.

—Joe Kelly left Game 5 early because of a biceps injury and it was announced after the game that he was out for the rest of the postseason. The Dodgers will be able to replace him on the roster, with the best guess being David Price gets the call.

—That Albert Pujols guy the Dodgers signed during the season really does know how to hit left-handers. Don’t know much about his background or history in the game, but a solid pickup.

—It turns out the best way to score Pujols from first with a hit is by hitting a home run.

—“It’s a great moment tonight, but we need to flip the page and continue to do this on Saturday,” Pujols said. “I think if we lose [Game 6] you look at this game and say it’s just another game that you win. So our goal is to continue to push this series and hopefully go to Game 7, and all eggs are on the table.”

—For a second I was afraid that if the game was still close in the ninth inning that Dave Roberts would turn to Max Scherzer to close out the game.

—Cody Bellinger has 11 hits in 11 postseason games this season. He had 51 hits in 95 games during the regular season.

—The only Dodgers in the starting lineup without a hit was Will Smith. Well, unless you could Kelly.

—Evan Phillips has turned into a nice addition to the bullpen for the NLCS.

—The Braves added Jorge Soler back to the roster now that he is out of the coronavirus protocols and removed Christian Pache. You are only allowed to add a player to the roster if he is exiting coronavirus protocols.

—That slider Brusdar Graterol threw Joc Pederson to strike him out was filthy. He has never thrown one with that much break before. If this is a new pitch, then he will be getting a lot of hitters out for a long time.

—After Kelly left the game, the rest of the Dodger pitching held Atlanta to three hits and no walks over the final 8.1 innings, striking out nine.

—While Dodgers fans complain about the bias of Ron Darling, two Atlanta Braves fan pages on Facebook are loaded with posts and replies complaining about how much Darling favors the Dodgers.

—My prediction remains: Dodgers in seven.

Taylor joins the record books

Most postseason home runs by a Dodger:

Justin Turner 13
Corey Seager 13
Duke Snider 11*
Steve Garvey 10
Cody Bellinger 9
Max Muncy 9
Joc Pederson 9
Chris Taylor 9

*-All in the World Series

Dodgers with three home runs in one postseason game:

Kiké Hernandez, Oct. 19, 2017, at Chicago Cubs
Chris Taylor, Oct. 21, 2021, vs. Atlanta Braves

Most RBIs in a postseason game for a Dodger:

7
Kiké Hernandez, 2017 NLCS Game 5 at Chicago Cubs

6
Chris Taylor, 2021 NLCS Game 5, vs. Atlanta Braves

5
Justin Turner, 2017 NLDS Game 1, vs. Arizona
Pedro Guerrero, 1981 World Series Game 6, at NY Yankees
Davey Lopes, 1978 World Series Game 1, vs. NY Yankees

Dodgers in this postseason

Batters
Chris Taylor, .364 (12 for 33, 3 doubles, 4 homers, 12 RBIs)
Cody Bellinger, .355 (11 for 31, 1 double, 1 homer, 6 RBIs)
Mookie Betts, .349 (15 for 43, 1 double, 1 homer, 5 RBIs)
Albert Pujols, .333 (5 for 15)
AJ Pollock, .290 (9 for 31, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 8 RBIs)
Will Smith, .250 (10 for 40, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 4 RBIs)
Trea Turner, .229 (11 for 48, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs)
Gavin Lux, .214 (3 for 14)
Corey Seager, .205 (9 for 44, 3 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBIs)
Steven Souza Jr., .143 (1 for 7)
Justin Turner, .118 (4 for 34, 1 homer, 1 RBI)
Matt Beaty, .100 (1 for 10)
Austin Barnes, .000 (0 for 2)
Andy Burns, .000 (0 for 1)
Luke Raley, .000 (0 for 1)
Billy McKinney, .000 (0 for 1)
Team: .252 (93 for 369, 14 doubles, 14 homers, 46 runs)

Pitchers
Phil Bickford, 6 IP, 4 hits, 0 walks, 4 K’s, 0.00 ERA
Kenley Jansen, 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 walks, 12 K’s, 2-0, 1 save, 0.00 ERA
Evan Phillips, 3 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks, 6 K’s, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Justin Bruihl, 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 walks, 5 K’s, 0.00 ERA
Brusdar Graterol, 7.1 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 0 walks, 5 K’s, 0-1, 1.23 ERA
Alex Vesia, 4.1 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 0 walks, 7 K’s, 2.08 ERA
Max Scherzer, 16.2 IP, 10 hits, 4 ER, 5 walks, 23 K’s, 0-1, 1 save, 2.16 ERA
Blake Treinen, 8.1 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, 7 K’s, 0-1, 2.16 ERA
Corey Knebel, 4.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s, 3.86 ERA
Walker Buehler, 14.1 IP, 16 hits, 8 ER, 6 walks, 12 K’s, 0-1, 5.02 ERA
Joe Kelly, 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 5 K’s, 1-0, 5.06 ERA
Julio Urías, 15 IP, 17 hits, 9 ER, 3 walks, 15 K’s, 1-1, 5.40 ERA
Tony Gonsolin, 4 IP, 5 hits, 5 ER, 1 walks, 4 K’s, 1-0, 11.25 ERA
Team: 97 IP, 79 hits, 35 ER, 21 walks, 114 K’s, 3.25 ERA

Braves in this postseason

Batters
Eddie Rosario, .471 (16 for 34, 1 double, 1 triple, 2 homers, 8 RBIs)
Joc Pederson, .308 (8 for 26, 3 homers, 9 RBIs)
Freddie Freeman, .303 (10 for 33, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 6 RBIs)
Austin Riley, .257 (9 for 35, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 RBIs)
Adam Duvall, .258 (8 for 31, 1 triple, 1 homer, 4 RBIs)
Ozzie Albies, .263 (10 for 38, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs)
Dansby Swanson, .235 (8 for 34, 1 double, 1 RBI)
Travis d’Arnaud, .179 (5 for 28, 1 RBI)
Jorge Soler, .083 (1 for 12, 1 double)
Ehire Adrianza, .000 (0 for 7)
Guillermo Heredia, .000 (0 for 3)
Orlando Arcia, .000 (0 for 3)
William Contreras, .000 (0 for 1)
Johan Camargo, .000 (0 for 3)
Team: .250 (75 for 300, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers, 36 runs scored)

Pitchers
Will Smith, 6 IP, 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 K’s, 2-0, 3 saves, 0.00 ERA
A.J. Minter, 5.1 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 7 K’s, 0.00 ERA
Jesse Chavez, 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 walk, 2 K’s, 0.00 ERA
Tyler Matzek, 8.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 4 walks, 13 K’s, 1-0, 2.16 ERA
Ian Anderson, 8 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 3 walks, 8 K’s, 1-0, 2.25 ERA
Charlie Morton, 14.1 IP, 10 hits, 6 ER, 8 walks, 19 K’s, 0-1, 3.77 ERA
Max Fried, 16.2 IP, 19 hits, 7 ER, 2 walks, 17 K’s, 1-1, 3.78 ERA
Dylan Lee, 2 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 0 walks, 2 K’s, 4.50 ERA
Chris Martin, 2 IP, 3 hit, 1 ER, 0 walks, 1 K, 4.50 ERA
Drew Smyly, 3.1, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 2 K’s, 1-0, 5.40 ERA
Luke Jackson, 5 IP, 8 hits, 4 ER, 3 walks, 5 K’s, 0-1, 7.20 ERA
Huascar Ynoa, 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 2 K’s, 18.00 ERA
Jacob Webb, 1.2 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 1 walk, 3 K’s, 21.69 ERA
Team: 78 IP, 69 hits, 31 ER, 29 walks, 86 K’s, 3.58 ERA

NLCS schedule

Game 1: at Atlanta 3, Dodgers 2
Game 2: at Atlanta 5, Dodgers 4
Game 3: at Dodgers 6, Atlanta 5
Game 4: Atlanta 9, at Dodgers 2
Game 5: at Dodgers 11, Atlanta 2

Game 6: Saturday, Dodgers (Max Scherzer, 15-4, 2.46 ERA) at Atlanta (Ian Anderson, 9-5, 3.58 ERA), 2 p.m. PT if ALCS is still playing, 5 p.m. PT if not, TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN radio

Game 7*: Sunday, Dodgers (Walker Buehler, 16-4, 2.47 ERA) at Atlanta (TBD), 4:30 p.m. PT, TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN radio

*-if necessary
**-left-handed

In case you missed it

Chris Taylor revives Dodgers’ NLCS lives with a jolt of ‘C-T-Three!’ power

Chris Taylor fuels Dodgers with three home runs in Game 5 win over Braves

Hernández: Wild NLCS tilts back as championship window reopens for Dodgers

AJ Pollock and Albert Pujols help rejuvenate Dodgers’ offense in Game 5 win

Photos: Chris Taylor’s three home runs help Dodgers beat Braves in NLCS Game 5

And finally

Dodgers-Braves Game 5 highlights. Watch and listen here.