With the tension building and the minutes ticking by, Chris Taylor fouled off pitch after pitch from Genesis Cabrera.
Finally, a breakthrough on the 14th delivery. Taylor drove in three runs with a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning, rallying the Los Angeles Dodgers past the St. Louis Cardinals 9-4 on Monday night to snap a three-game skid.
“C.T. was just relentless in that at-bat,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Probably the best one we’ve had this year.”
Taylor fouled off nine pitches — four in a row twice — before coming through with his two-out double for a 6-3 lead.
“He just wasn’t going to be denied,” Roberts said. “The guy was up there throwing 97, 98 mph, breaking ball, changeup.”
Taylor said he lost count of the pitches in what was the longest at-bat of his big league career.
“It was fun when I hit a double,” he said. “During the at-bat, I was trying to stay within myself and black out, so to speak, and just stay focused. I could definitely feel the energy, especially when I came through with the hit.”
Roberts said the at-bat reminded him of Alex Cora’s 18-pitch at-bat in 2004, when Roberts was still a player.
Two batters earlier, Cabrera issued a bases-loaded walk to Will Smith that tied the game. The left-hander threw 34 pitches, 20 for strikes, in two-thirds of an inning.
Taylor also homered in the second and doubled in the eighth, going 3 for 4 with four RBIs and two runs scored.
