After delivering the largest hit of the season, Cody Bellinger looked up at the dugout in triumph and pounded his chest in joy.

It took until the ninth inning in the 24th and final meeting for the Los Angeles Dodgers to finally seperate the San Francisco Giants and San Francisco Giants.

They could not have been closer.

Bellinger scored a tiebreaking run in the ninth. Midseason acquisition Max Scherzer, a prized player in the midseason, came out of the bullpen to save his first career save. The Dodgers defeated the Giants 2-1 in a dramatic winner-take-all Game 5 on Thursday night. This sent the Dodgers into the NL Championship Series.

Bellinger’s line drive in the middle resulted in a thrilling Division Series between two of the best teams in baseball. They had a combined 213 regular season wins. This adds a new chapter into this century-old rivalry.

Dave Roberts, Dodgers manager, said that they had put everything into the series and it was hard to beat them.

A dramatic end was achieved with a controversial call. With a runner aboard Scherzer fanned Wilmer Flowers on a check-swing to score the final out. Doug Eddings, the plate umpire, checked with Gabe Morales (first base ump), and Flores was ruled swung. However, television replays showed that he appeared to have held up.

Bellinger stated, “The umpire declared it a swing, so it is a swing.”

The Dodgers ran out of their dugout and celebrated on the Giants’ field. In disgust, fans began to throw beer cans and other debris onto the diamond.

“Super tough. “Obviously, you don’t want a match to end in that manner,” Gabe Kapler, San Francisco manager, said. “Don’t be mad about it. It’s just a disappointing end. We didn’t win today’s baseball game for other reasons, so that was not the end of the story.

Morales explained to a pool reporter, “Check-swings” are among the most difficult calls umpires make.

Morales stated that he doesn’t have multiple camera angles to view it live and therefore does not have the advantage of multiple angles. “When it happened live, I thought he went, which is why I called it swing.”

Mookie Betts, who had a career-high of four hits in the postseason, will be leading the next stage of the Dodgers’ title defense in Atlanta for Game 1 on Saturday night. Roberts believes Scherzer will be available to start, stating, “That’s the plan.”

Los Angeles overcame a 3-1 series deficit and beat the Braves to win the NLCS last year. The Braves won Game 7 with a 4-3 victory, bringing Los Angeles its first title since 1988.

It’s going be another great one. Bellinger stated that it is not going to be an easy task. “We’ve played each other several times in the past few years. We kind of know each other’s strengths and we really look forward to it.”

Camilo Doval struck out Justin Turner in the ninth inning, and Gavin Lux walked before Bellinger scored his most significant hit of a difficult season.

He was 5 for 62 (0.080) in his previous match against the Giants in 2021.

Bellinger stated, “You really want to be there that moment.”

Scherzer, who lost Game 3 by 1-0, was traded to Washington on the July 30 deadline. To close out a best of five series, Scherzer pitched a scoreless ninth on Thursday with two days rest. This will be a match-up that will go down in history as one of the greatest games these franchises have ever played.

“That was insane. Scherzer stated, “That’s crazy.” “So to be there, with everything on line, with how we’ve been playing this series, to get that ball in that situation was a rush, man.

Since 1969, when saves were made an official statistic, the 37-year old right-hander is still the oldest to save a winner take-all game.

These evenly matched rivals, who knew each other well by this stage of the game, met for the final time at 12 p.m. Los Angeles finished a game behind with 106 wins, while the 107-win Giants defeated the Dodgers to win the NL West title.

Both teams entered this match with 109 wins including the playoffs.

Roberts stated, “Best record in baseball, and it was just amazing every time we played these guys, just bringing back that rivalry, really playing for relevance.”

When facing elimination, the Dodgers had already won once and beat the Cardinals 3-1 last week in wild-card play. Roberts’ bold Game 5 gamble paid off. Julio Urias, the 20-game winner, pitched from the bullpen rather than starting as planned. Urias came in the third inning to relieve LA with five strikeouts.

Roberts stated that he believes you cannot do a job for fear or criticism. Roberts stated, “I believe that you must do your job in the best possible way to win this game.”

Betts was the Dodgers’ first three hits with singles at top of the lineup. Corey Seager’s RBI double sixth made it possible for the Dodgers to reach Game 1 and win Logan Webb.

Webb stated, “He’s one the best baseball players for a reason.”

After starting the series 0 for 9, Darin Ruf scored his first hit for San Francisco. It was a tie-breaking home run in the bottom inning. This postseason’s longest drive was 452 feet.

After seven more innings of brilliant pitching, Webb was done. He allowed one run on four hits and struck out seven more. Webb once again delighted 42,275 fans with his swirling orange rally towels, and the deafening “Beat LA!” chants.

The right-hander, a 24-year-old, and two relief pitchers beat the Dodgers 4-0 here last week. Webb’s Sierra Elementary School in Rocklin hosted a day in his memory this week.

Right-handed reliever Corey Knebel opened the Dodgers’ game. He gave up Buster Posey’s two-out double in his first. Then, he pumped his fist striking Brandon Crawford in a seven pitch at-bat.

All the adjustments and winning moves were made by the Dodgers this time.

Sometimes, there are things you just can’t explain. Betts described it as “it” thing. “I feel like it’s ours.”

BETTS’ BAT

Betts is the second batter to have three hits against Webb this season, joining San Diego’s Eric Hosmer April 30.

Right fielder was also the first Dodgers player to have four hits in a winner takes all postseason game.

SCULLY SAYS

Vin Scully (Hall of Fame broadcaster, who retired after the 2016 season, having spent 67 years calling Dodgers matches) spoke out about the significance of the Game 5 matchup in the club’s rich history.

“To my knowledge, tonight’s game between (at)Dodgers (SFGiants) is the most important in the history of their rivalry. Scully shared this tweet via Twitter. “With nearly identical records and so much at stake,” Scully stated. Many people might think that the 1951 game for NL pennant was bigger. Maybe, but it was about Bobby Thomson’s home-run that won the game.

Roberts was informed before the game of Scully’s comments at 93 years old.

“Now, I feel pressure. Roberts smirked.