NLCS: Eddie Rosario Beats Los Angeles Dodgers to Lead in Atlanta


LOS ANGELES — Eddie Rosario made his debut in October baseball in 2017, defeating Yankees’ Luis Severino in the first postseason plate appearance of his career in that year’s American League wild card game. While the Minnesota Twins won’t soften him after the 2020 season, he had more postseason magic in his bat.

An outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, like Randy Arozarena, Kiké Hernández, and Joc Pederson, Rosario is quickly emerging as the player who shines most brightly on the October scene – each a sort of successor to Mr. October’s legacy, Reggie Jackson. You can feel the impact of Rosario in the silence that once surrounded the noisy Dodger Stadium in the middle of Game 4 Wednesday night. And you could see it in the empty seats as the Los Angeles fans streamed out of the park long before the ninth innings.

Atlanta beat Dodgers starting player Julio Urias in a 9-2 win, which led him to a win of his first World Series since 1999. Rosario began slugfest with the opposing solo homer to kick off the second, followed by crackdown. three-running homer in the third, single in the fifth, and three-run homer in the ninth.

Puerto Rican Rosario finished the night with four RBIs, three points and a total of 12 bases.

“I still dream of bigger things,” he later said, and so did his team.

A year ago, Atlanta brought the Dodgers to the brink of elimination with the same three-game one lead in the National League Championship Series on a neutral pitch in Texas at the height of the pandemic. Los Angeles took three back-to-back wins to make those dreams come true, coincidentally starting the Dodgers’ last six consecutive elimination streaks.

It will be difficult to extend this winning streak on Thursday. Not only has the Dodgers’ offense faded for much of this post-season, third baseman Justin Turner suffered a Grade 2 knee sprain in Game 4 and Manager Dave Roberts declared him finished off for the season. Max Muncy (elbow) is out and complicates their line-up even more. The shooting was shattered, the bullring was overtaxed.

And they can’t come up with a strategy to use Rosario. He is currently 10 in 17 (.588) in the NLCS with five points, two hosts, a triple, six RBIs and two walks. Postseason, 14 out of 30 (.467) with eight RBIs

When he tripled against Urias in the third, the two exchanged knowing looks, Rosario in the third and Urias looking down on him.

“It was a smile that was like saying ‘Everything goes for me,'” Urias said in Spanish.

“She was laughing like, ‘Oh, I can’t get this guy out,'” Rosario said, again in Spanish. “I’m laughing because today is my day.”

Rosario arrived in Atlanta in a largely overlooked trade on July 30, which was essentially a payroll for Cleveland (Atlanta sent Pablo Sandoval to Cleveland). was a part smart, on-the-spot flurry of moves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos made the trade on the final day after the club lost star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending knee injury.

“Alex came out and grabbed him and showed these guys that we’re not going to sit down and bow our heads,” said manager Brian Snitker. “We’re going for this thing.”

Rosario was suffering from stomachaches at the time and did not start playing every day in Atlanta until August 28, about a month after the trade. Atlanta wasn’t sure what they were getting because Rosario, who, after signing a one-year contract, signed a $8 million deal with Cleveland, had just .254 in 78 games with seven homers and 46 RBIs.

What changed when he came to Atlanta?

“Air,” Rosario joked. “The first two months in Cleveland are always 40 degrees.”

But his first six seasons in Minnesota were cold enough, and he still managed to lead the majors with 15 threes as a rookie. He was voted for the AL’s Most Valuable Player Award for his two seasons on Gemini.

His path now threatens to become the Gemini’s most notable miser since parting ways with David Ortiz in December 2002.

Like homer in his first postseason in Minnesota, with a knack for first impressions, Rosario looped in just his 20th game with Atlanta. The hot streak can largely be traced back to that September against San Francisco.

Rosario said Wednesday night that he still uses the stick he made the day he hit the bike. And when he came to the table in the seventh and ninth innings of Game 4, all he needed for another round was a double.

“When I missed the farm, I thought, ‘Wow, this bat is amazing,'” Rosario said.

He attacked on the seventh inning and smashed a three-run homer in the ninth inning to ruin his rare chance of success.

“Three RBIs is better than hitting a double,” he said.

“I was at second base for the last home run and it swung under the 1 and 0 divider,” said Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman. “It’s very hard to sway under one splitter and he did and then it didn’t sway under the next. So those are the things you hope they last as long as they last because it feels pretty good as a hitter.”

The rest of this month will suit Atlanta very well.

James Wagner contributing reporting.



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