Giants season ends on brutal check swing call, a breakdown

Oct 15, 2021 1.6M views 6:31

What Happened

The Giants and Dodgers, the two teams that won the most games in the regular season, are facing off in a winner-take-all Game 5 of their best-of-five playoff series, with the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Los Angeles Dodgers' star Justin Turner is hit by a 100 mph fastball, putting him on base with one out. Gavin Lux follows with a single, advancing Turner into scoring position. Cody Bellinger then comes through for the Dodgers, delivering a go-ahead RBI single to right-center field that scores Turner. The Dodgers dugout erupts in celebration, with players and coaches yelling "Let's go!" in an exhilarating display. In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants send Max Scherzer to the mound for his first career save opportunity. Scherzer retires the first out, but a miscue by Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner allows the Giants to keep their hopes alive. Up steps San Francisco's LaMonte Wade Jr., one of the best hitters in the ninth inning this season. Wade fouls off a couple of tough pitches from Scherzer before striking out swinging on a sharp curveball. With one out to go, Wilmer Flores steps to the plate for the Giants. On a 1-2 count, Flores checks his swing, and first base umpire Gabe Morales rules that Flores went around, ending the Giants' season in heartbreaking fashion. After the game, Morales acknowledges that the check swing call was difficult and that he thought Flores went around when he saw it live, but he doesn't have the benefit of multiple camera angles that viewers do. As the Dodgers celebrate their advancement to the next round, the focus shifts to Scherzer, who is absolutely ecstatic, screaming, hugging, and high-fiving his teammates in a display of pure, unbridled emotion. The intensity and energy Scherzer brings to the moment encapsulates the high-stakes tension of this elimination game between two fierce division rivals.

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the giants and dodgers the two teams

that won the most games in the regular

season their seasons are on the line now

it's the fifth game of a best of five

series it's tied up one run a piece in