Chris Taylor’s walk-off two-run home run to propel the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 wild-card playoff victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday was foretold by LA’s starting pitcher, Max Scherzer.
Scherzer didn’t have his usual command in allowing 1 run over 4 1/3 innings, but he did seem to have a crystal ball.
ESPN reported that with the teams tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning and one out, Scherzer was sitting next to relief pitcher Joe Kelly and made a prediction: Cody Bellinger would walk and Taylor would homer to send the Dodgers to the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants.
“I had that vision for him,” Scherzer told the sports network. “I’ve played with him and faced him and seen all this. I was like, ‘This is the right man for the right spot, and he’s gonna put a good swing on it.’ Sure enough, he did.”
Scherzer was wrong on one count ― that Taylor would smash it to the opposite field.
Taylor wasn’t the obvious choice for a hero, having struggled for the last few months.
“These are the type of moments you dream about and live for,” Taylor told the Los Angeles Times. “I’ll be able to look back on this the rest of my life.”
Good thing he had a fortune teller for a teammate. Here’s Scherzer’s vision of Taylor coming to life: