LOS ANGELES — All year, the Dodgers have been trying to get Cody Bellinger to stay in the strike zone. When he was hitting .152 in July. When he went 19 straight games without a walk in August and September. When he struck out eight times in 17 at bats in the National League Division Series.
So, naturally, when Atlanta reliever Luke Jackson threw a 97-mph fastball down the heart of the plate in the eighth inning of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, Bellinger swung through it. And when Jackson followed with a 96-mph fastball nearly a foot above the strike zone, Bellinger launched it 399 feet to save the Dodgers’ season.