Chris Taylor Hits 2-Run Homer To Beat The Cardinals In The Ninth, 3-1

Seventeen straight wins is all it took for the St. Louis Cardinals to make their appearance on an October evening against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Entering Wednesday night's game at the Chavez Ravine in a win-or-go-home Wild Card contest, St. Louis and ace Adam Wainwright were willing in spirit, but not through the scoreboard. They lost 3-1, courtesy of ninth inning heroics from unlikely candidate Chris Taylor.

A determined Taylor hit the walk-off home run deep left-center to win the game and send the Dodgers to their first postseason meetup with the San Francisco Giants. The score brought in Cody Bellinger on second, who had the temerity to steal a base on Cards' Yadier Molina twice on the night. Taylor's homer was his sixth career postseason score and the Dodgers' fourth walk-off home run in postseason history.

Taylor was asked whether the moment felt too big to handle ... which he did.

"Yeah, I felt alright," said Taylor, approaching the post-game mic still slightly wavered by the team's bombarding at home plate as he and Bellinger arrived to seal the game. "Like I said, I was trying to keep things small. Think small and make big things happen."

The Dodgers will face off against the in-state rival Giants on Friday to start the NL Division Series.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela