Giants Didn't Beat LA: Dodgers Win Series In Playoff Thriller

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Dodgers broke a ninth inning tie to beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1, Thursday evening in San Francisco, winning their National League Division Series in five games.

Prized midseason acquisition Max Scherzer came out of the bullpen for a save, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers past the San Francisco Giants in a thrilling winner-take-all Game 5 on Thursday night and into the NL Championship Series.

The defending World Series champs overcame a two games to one deficit for the series comeback win. The Dodgers won three games to two when Cody Bellinger singled in Justin Turner from second base in the top of the ninth.

Bellinger's big hit came after a 3-for-14 showing this postseason and capped a scintillating NL Division Series it seemed nobody wanted to see end given the talent and win totals involved in the latest exciting chapter of this storied rivalry.

The win advances the Dodgers to the National League Championship Series for the fourth time in five seasons. They will face the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in a rematch of the 2020 NLCS won by the Dodgers in seven games.

The series is scheduled to begin Saturday at Truist Park in Cumberland, Georgia.

Mookie Betts had a postseason career-high four hits Thursdau and will lead the next step in LA's championship defense at Atlanta for Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday.

Camilo Doval plunked Justin Turner with one out in the ninth and Gavin Lux then singled before Bellinger delivered his most meaningful hit in a scrutinized season.

Scherzer, the Game 3 loser who came from Washington at the trade deadline, closed out a best-of-five series certain to go down among the several classics these franchises have played — right up there with the 1951 and ’62 clubs that each matched up in three-game tiebreakers for the NL pennant that the Giants won each time.

City News Service, The Associated Press and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.