Alex Pavlovic spoke to Evan Longoria after his homer was the only run scored in the Giants’ 1-0 win over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS on Monday night.
You didn't need to know the stat to know that Game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night was critical.
But the Giants and Dodgers both surely were aware that in MLB postseason history, the Game 3 winner of any best-of-five series that was tied one to one has gone on to win the series 72 percent of the time.
So when Gavin Lux's loud fly ball died in the Southern California wind to give the Giants a 1-0 victory and put the Dodgers on the brink of elimination, there's no doubt there was a deep sigh of relief from many of those in orange and black.
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But the Giants' 1-0 win was even more impressive given what they were up against Monday night. The Dodgers sent ace Max Scherzer to the mound, who had yet to lose a game as a Dodger since arriving in LA at the MLB trade deadline. There was also the fact that the Dodgers had won their last 16 home games, and had looked unbeatable at Chavez Ravine over the past few weeks.
But Evan Longoria's solo home run, Brandon Crawford's incredible leaping grab and Alex Wood's start allowed the Giants to snap both of those Dodger streaks.
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Beating Scherzer and snapping the Dodgers' home winning streak was a massive boon to the Giants' postseason hopes. After battling the rival Dodgers all summer for the NL West crown, the Giants finally are one win away from excising the Dodgers and advancing to the NLCS.
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The Giants know the 106-win Dodgers won't be easy to vanquish. But they have their rivals standing on the edge of a cliff, and now all they have to do Tuesday night is push.