Dodgers Weekend Showdown: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

If you were to look up “crafty lefty” along with, “power-arm,” you’d find Exhibit A: Wade LeBlanc and Exhibit B: Walker Buehler.

The pair’s contrast in style doesn’t simply stop with their preferred pitching hand, LeBlanc is a soft-throwing journeyman who has finally found a home in Seattle after several years of not having one.

Buehler is the quintessential prodigy fresh out of Vanderbilt, throws in the upwards of 98 mph on a somewhat regular basis, and has drawn comparisons to non-other than our own Orel Hershiser. 

Buehler pitched beautifully Friday night. He consistently hit all of his spots with exquisite accuracy. His 4-seamer screamed and rose like a phoenix, blew past anyone who dared to swing at his fastball up.

It wasn’t just velocity that Buehler had on hand Friday night, his 4-seam darted from the outside (six inches) and quickly faded back in on the outside corner versus righties.

If you wanted to hit his FB, he’d sling a slider. The kid was a gunslinger Friday night and he wasn’t taking any prisoners. Painting that strike zone as if the French Renaissance had just met Cubism. He made his presence known immediately and loudly. 

By-and-large, my favorite matchup of the night was Buehler vs. Nelson “Boomstick” Cruz. In their first meeting, Buehler respectfully threw a get-over slider to switch things up. Cruz, in turn, lined it the other way.

Like swatting a gnat, the ball violently slashed through 1st and 2nd base in the air, on a line, as if he said aloud, “next time kiddo.”

That next time came in the 3rd. Buehler walked him to load the bases but managed to quell the M’s rally with swift precision. “Corey’s Brother,” Kyle Seager, eventually flew-out to end the inning. 

The rest of Buehler’s start went according to plan. The Vandy-alum served up 8 K’s. One of which went to Boomstick himself. In the last of their three meetings, Buehler threw a fastball up for a ball, then whipped another fastball in on his hands, which Cruz fouled off behind him.

The 1-1 pitch, Buehler threw another backup slider but this time it was hard and nasty and caught the outside corner.

That pitch froze Boomstick. Then he threw another fastball up on 1-2, making it now 2-2. After a fastball outside, the count was full, Buelher spun another nasty slider but this time caught Cruz swinging over it, about 6 inches higher than the ball’s trajectory as it dove straight down into the dirt.

Buehler finished his night with 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 BB, and 8 K’s. A masterful performance for a master in training. 

It’s a shame that Buehler’s night was overshadowed by the eruption of Dodgers’ bats that wrote the rest of the game’s story. Manny Machado crushed a laser over the left field wall.

It wasn’t the majestic, rainbow-like arch that we’re accustomed to seeing from Slamchado, but it was on the screws, and it was pretty. In that same inning, Max Muncy ran into a hanging curve courtesy of LeBlanc, which promptly left the yard for a 2-run shot.

The Dodgers were beginning to make quick work of LeBlanc and before the M’s could catch their breath while attempting to stave-off the continual onslaught of Buehler’s heat-seeking cruise missiles, it was too late. The final score was 11-1, Dodgers.

Machado ended his night with another shot, this time it was the majestical arch that managed to land somewhere around Lake Washington. 

Rich “Richie” Hill has been one of the most steady hands the Dodgers have relied on since he returned from the DL. Game 2 got away from him initially, however, as Rich Hill does, he took the 4 runs given up in the 1st on the chin, got back up, and pitched his way through 6 innings of (from that point forward) scoreless baseball.

By the time his start was over, he managed to leave his team in a position to win. This was a vintage Rich Hill start; he pitched like he always does, like a pro. Though there was trouble to begin, he kept his composure (somehow) and brought his team back to life.

The elephant on the diamond is, of course, Floro’s balk-off heard ‘round Los Angeles. Allow me to say a couple of things regarding the infamous balk-off. 

Justin Turner, Max Muncy, and Cody Bellinger all took the seemingly indestructible setup-man/closer duo, otherwise known as Alex Colomé and Edwin Diaz, deep and in Bellinger’s case, real deep.

Until that night the M’s were a whopping sixty and zero with the lead and entering the 9th. Bellinger’s shot above the Hit it Here Cafe at Safeco was, at the very least, inspired.

All of the HR’s late were. Beating those two relievers was/is the type of moment that propels teams into their destined futures. A moment that we’ve all been waiting for.

A moment like that can captivate a team, and turn them from simply a team of players into a galvanized brotherhood of champions. All championship teams, in any sport, have this moment. Pre-balk-off could’ve been our moment. Instead, we were embarrassed and ashamed.

Yes, umpires should never end a game with a decision dependent upon them and them alone, however, Floro did balk and the Dodgers were left to pick up the pieces.  

Kershaw had a 5-spot to open his start Sunday. The lead was provided by a Bellinger 2-run single, a Kiké RBI single, and a Puig 2-run single. As I watched the opening inning of Game 3 I thought to myself, “Whoa! Who needs a ‘moment’ when you’re crushing the ball like these guys are?”

Further, I began to wonder if this was actually the moment, coming back after a figurative gut-punch the likes of which haven’t been felt in months, maybe even, since Game 7 of the World Series.

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This moment, opening Game 3 with your ace about to take the hill, was a moment to be sure. Will it be “the” moment? I supposed that is for us to wait and see. One thing was certain though, Clayton Kershaw was not about to squander any amount of that lead away. 

Kershaw threw his 4-seam with utter perfection. His windup, delivery, and arm-angle are something from a storybook. Match that with his robotically-charged gamer-mentality, grit, and overall genius, and the M’s didn’t know who or what had hit them.

This was a very satisfying win for the Dodgers and for Clayton Kershaw because typically it’s Kershaw who gets the 7 innings of no support. Of course, Sunday afternoon was not “typical” in any sense. The final score was 12-0. Within an hour of that game, the M’s knew they were toast. 

In the end, what did I see? I saw two clubs, one left with momentum and plenty of fire in their tank. When the Dodgers are clicking on all cylinders, there’s not another team in baseball that can beat us. This is the truth.

The question is, however, now with Kenley back and ready to roll, exactly how much longer are we going to take before we’re in our championship strut? You know, when all things are clicking without having to endure another infamous balk-off? Hopefully not too long.