Give the Dodgers a high five for winning Game 7

Playoff games always have unforgettable moments. Game 7 of the 2020 National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Braves had at least five. Here is a look back at the defining moments of Game 7, the one the Dodgers won 4-3 to advance to their third World Series in four years.

The start: Dustin May couldn’t throw a strike to the first two batters he faced. He walked them both. Ronald Acuna came around to score the first run of the game and take a 1-0 lead. Call it jitters. Call it nerves. It was revealed May found out he was starting the game only a few hours before it started. It was almost a disaster. The Dodgers were lucky to escape with a 1-0 deficit.

The tag: With the score tied 2-2 in the fourth inning, the Braves rallied to break the tie. Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson walked to start the inning. Austin Riley drove in Albies to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Blake Treinen, pitching in relief for the Dodgers, threw a wild pitch and put runners on second and third with no outs. That’s when Nick Markakis hit a ground ball to third baseman Justin Turner. The Dodgers had Swanson in a rundown between third base and home plate. Turner tagged him out diving down the third baseline, recovered and fired to third base to tag out Riley trying to advance for a double play. The Dodgers got out of the inning, giving up only one run and keeping the score close.

The catch: Mookie Betts, the Dodgers right fielder, made a habit of making great catches in the NLCS. In the fifth inning, he made the most important one. Freddie Freeman hit a long drive to right field. Betts raced to the warning track and to the wall, leaped over the 7-foot-fence, and robbed Freeman of a home run. It would have given the Braves a 4-2 lead. It would have given the Braves confidence going into the final innings of the game. It would have crushed the Dodger and put more pressure on them to create some offense. The catch was as big as hitting a home run for Betts. It kept it a one-run game and gave the Dodgers within striking distance.

The home run: The Dodgers hit two big home runs in the final three innings of the game. Kike Hernandez hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning to tie the score 3-3. But it was Cody Bellinger’s solo home run in the eighth inning that will be remembered. Bellinger hit a no-doubt 400-foot home run to right field on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. He fouled off three pitches in a row before knocking the eighth pitch of the at-bat out of the park and give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

The relief: With all the pitching problems the Dodgers had in Game 7, reliever Julio Urias kept the Braves at bay for the last three innings of the game. He pitched three perfect innings. He didn’t record a strike out. But he recorded six flyouts and three groundouts to keep the Braves off base. It harkened to some of the great relief pitching performances in Dodgers playoff history. It was reminiscent of Steve Howe’s performance in Game 6 of the 1981 World Series when he pitched 3 2/3 shutout innings in relief to close out the deciding game against the Yankees. Urias joined the ranks of legendary Dodgers pitchers after Game 7.

The Dodgers move on to face the Tampa Rays in the World Series. Let’s go Dodgers.