Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor (3) catch the fly ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series baseball game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor (3) catch the fly ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series baseball game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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MILWAUKEE, WI – OCTOBER 20: Chris Taylor #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers makes a diving catch hit by Christian Yelich #22 of the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning in Game Seven of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park on October 20, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor (3) reacts after catching the fly ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series baseball game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Chris Taylor is congratulated by Chris Taylor after catching a ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series baseball game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)



The Dodgers’ Kike’ Hernandez celebrates after left fielder Chris Taylor made a diving catch on a fly ball hit by the Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday night in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor (3) celebrates with Manny Machado (8) after catching the fly ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series baseball game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor is congratulated by Manny Machado after catching a ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich during the fifth inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series baseball game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

MILWAUKEE — Miller Park was empty as the Milwaukee Brewers players ran fade routes Saturday afternoon. One by one, they each handed a Nerf football to a staff member, pretended right field was the Lambeau Field gridiron, and leisurely chased down a foam prolate spheroid as it spiraled toward the foul line.

The Green Bay Packers have a bye this week, so the best route anyone will run in Wisconsin this weekend indeed took place in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. It happened in the fifth inning, in left-center field, and it came courtesy of a man who began the game as the Dodgers’ second baseman.

Christian Yelich’s bat cracked. Chris Taylor’s first step was in the correct direction: back and to his left, an acute angle toward the warning track. By the time gravity had taken hold of Yelich’s low-arcing fly ball, Taylor realized he needed to correct course. He turned slightly toward the outfield wall, slowing imperceptibly if at all. Taylor’s glove reached up, protracting every inch of his 6-foot-1 frame as the baseball descended to earth.

The stakes were high for Taylor. Catch the ball, and the fifth inning ends. Miss it and Yelich reaches second base, Lorenzo Cain scores a run to tie the score 2-2, and Ryan Braun steps to the plate with a chance for his team-leading fifth RBI of the NLCS. All the route efficiency and exit velocity in the world couldn’t describe the magnitude of the moment.

Taylor’s feet left the ground on the outfield grass and didn’t return until his momentum had carried him halfway up the warning track. There was the ball, secure in the leather webbing; there was center fielder Cody Bellinger, Lambeau leaping to avoid his tumbling teammate. The collective exhale from the Dodgers’ dugout was enough to cool down Taylor as he came to rest more than 360 feet from home plate.

“That was the catch of the year,” said Bellinger. “I don’t know what would happen if he doesn’t make that catch.”

“I thought the game was tied,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “CT gets a great break on the ball and really (made) a game-saving play.”

The ball was in the air for roughly four seconds, but the catch itself was years in the making.

An infielder at the University of Virginia, Taylor played second base, third base or shortstop at every level of the Seattle Mariners’ organization as he climbed the minor league ranks. The Dodgers acquired him for pitcher Zach Lee in June 2016 and did not move him to the outfield – center field, specifically – until the following year. Taylor debuted in left field on June 13, 2017, an interleague game against the Cleveland Indians. Saturday was his 70th start at the position.

“The aptitude he has to learn stuff is unbelievable,” said George Lombard, who coaches the Dodgers’ outfielders. “He’s very accountable. Like when he’s not in there, he’s going to go out there and work on shagging. He’ll take balls in center field, left field, jump over to right field, take balls at second, take balls at short. Just being so athletic, if he does get a bad jump he’s quick enough to make up for it.”

Prior to each game, Lombard gives each of the Dodgers’ outfielders a laminated card showing where they should position each opposing hitter. There’s another variable: for the outfielder to be in the right position, the pitcher must execute his pitches. Of course, the pitchers don’t always execute, and the hitters don’t always follow their tendency, so it’s impossible for the casual viewer to know when the outfielders are out of position.

The coaches know. Generally speaking, Lombard said, Taylor and Kiké Hernandez follow the cheat cards better than any of the team’s outfielders.

“You almost play Yelich like a right-handed hitter,” Lombard said. “You don’t see guys that have that kind of power the other way. He can really drive the ball, and we read opposite field on him. (Taylor) was in the correct position when he got there.”

Taylor was the Dodgers’ starting second baseman on Saturday. After two innings, the Brewers replaced right-handed starter Jhoulys Chacin with left-handed reliever Josh Hader. Taylor moved from second base to left field. Hernandez entered the game at second.

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Dodgers’ Max Muncy: ‘You have to realize that it really isn’t about you’ That Taylor made the defensive play of the game was the ultimate expression of the Dodgers’ Jenga-like defense – moving each piece while maintaining tremendous balance – and of Taylor’s own versatility. He played four positions in Game 5 alone.

“The fact that you can plug him in anywhere on the field – he can make a move on the field defensively during the game, then make a game-saving play,” Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said of Taylor. “That was a real testament to his value and what he brings to this team on a day-in, day-out basis.”

Rarely demonstrative, Taylor pumped both his fists as he found his feet. Pitcher Julio Urías pounded his glove. Walker Buehler, who had been relieved one batter earlier, raised both his arms in the Dodgers’ dugout as if to signal a field goal.

“I thought it was going to be further in the gap,” Taylor said. “I thought it was going to be Belli’s ball. My original route – I had that kind of banana (route) back toward the wall. I’m just glad I was able to make the adjustment, make the play.”

Yasiel Puig’s three-run home run in the next inning proved to be the finishing touch on a 5-1 victory. Between one hit, and one catch, the Dodgers were not ready for baseball season to end.