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WATCH: Chris Taylor Hits Grand Slam for 100th Career Homer

Taylor is the first player in MLB history to hit grand slams for both his first and 100th career home runs

Matt Newton

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Taylor hit his 100th career MLB home run in grand fashion.

The former Virginia baseball star and longtime LA Dodger utility man crushed a ball deep into the pavilion seats in left field for a game-changing grand slam, a pivotal moment in the Dodgers' eventual 5-4 extra-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night in Los Angeles. 

Watch Taylor's grand slam in the video below:

Taylor was directly involved in a few key plays that led to the Dodgers' series-clinching win over the White Sox. His grand slam tied things up in the bottom of the sixth after the Dodgers had fallen behind 4-0. Chicago nearly answered with a run in the next inning, but a pickoff play caught Elvis Andrus between third and home and Taylor made a leaping tag on Andrus to record the final out and prevent the White Sox from regaining the lead. 

The game went to extra innings and the Dodgers eventually won in the bottom of the 11th, with Chris Taylor fittingly scoring the game-winning run on Freddie Freeman's bases-loaded walk-off. 

Each of Taylor's 100 career major league home runs have come in a Dodgers uniform. After a Hall of Fame collegiate career at Virginia, Taylor was selected in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. Taylor made his MLB debut in 2014 and played with the Mariners until 2016, when he was traded to the Dodgers in what Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto later called "clearly the worst deal I've ever made."

In seven seasons in Los Angeles, Taylor has played nearly every position on the field for the Dodgers, including second base, shortstop, third base, and every spot in the outfield as the ultimate utility man. Taylor was the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 National League Championship Series, was named an All-Star for the first time in 2021, and helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 2020. 

Now, Taylor has hit his 100th career home run the same way he hit his first career home run: on a grand slam. Chris Taylor becomes the first player in MLB history to hit grand slams for both his first and 100th career homers, a special achievement for one of the greatest baseball players to ever wear a Virginia uniform. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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