Turang avoids crucial hit: Dodgers beat Brewers in NLCS ⚾

Brice Turang pulls back from the tying run opportunity and the Dodgers take the win

In a crucial moment of Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, with the Milwaukee Brewers at their last out and losing by one run with the bases loaded, Brice Turang was inches away from being hit by a pitch that would have tied the game. However, Turang’s reflexes made him back off, and he was eventually struck out on a high fastball in the next pitch. The Dodgers took the victory 2-1 on Monday night, opening the best-of-seven series.

“Well, if they see me looking at the dugout, I’m thinking, ‘Damn'”, Turang said, according to MLB.com. “I know it. Everyone knows it. I couldn’t tell you why I did it. I just stepped away. That’s just how it is”.

Brice Turang

The Brewers manager, Pat Murphy, defended his second baseman after the game, characterizing the move as natural. “When the ball comes at you, your natural reaction… is a curve, your natural reaction is to do that,” Murphy said. “And I know I was thinking the same thing after the ball went by. It happens. He’ll learn from that situation. But it’s difficult. Even if you try to maneuver, it’s difficult to get hit by the pitch because it’s so reactionary.” After a brilliant effort from opener Blake Snell, the Dodgers led 2-0 when they handed the ball to rookie Roki Sasaki in the ninth, after Snell had thrown 103 pitches in eight scoreless innings. Sasaki had thrown 5⅓ scoreless innings in the postseason while adjusting to a bullpen role, but he wasn’t as sharp on Monday. Isaac Collins drew a walk with one out, and pinch-hitter Jake Bauers hit a ground-rule double that bounced over the center-field fence. Jackson Chourio hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Collins and advanced pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge to third base. Christian Yelich drew a walk on a 3-2 count low and outside.

“I couldn’t tell you why I did it, I just pulled away,” Brice Turang said about his reaction to avoid being hit by a pitch that would have tied the game from Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen in the ninth inning on Monday night. “That’s just how it is.”It was then that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Sasaki and brought in Blake Treinen, who had a 9.64 ERA in September and allowed two runs and three hits in one inning during the National League Division Series against Philadelphia. Yelich stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position before William Contreras was walked on a 3-2 count low and away. After Treinen nearly hit Turang in the leg with a pitch, Turang struck out to end the game. “You put your leg, you put it on,” Turang said. “Like a natural reaction to get out of the way. The last pitch, it’s a guy who throws a lot of sinkers. He threw a four-seamer up. That’s it. You move on. As much as it sucks, you move on.”