Dodgers Bullpen Holds up Without All-Star Closer Kenley Jansen

One month after blowing three late leads without Kenley Jansen in Colorado, the Dodgers bullpen answered back with a vengeance helping the Dodgers win their series against the Rockies.

The Dodgers came into their series with the Rockies knowing their bullpen would need to hang on for dear life without the services of Kenley Jansen.  One month earlier the Dodgers came into Colorado and with Jansen out the bullpen blew three late leads in their four-game series.

This time the Dodgers bullpen came in knowing they would be without Kenley Jansen from the start and they held up strong over the course of their three-game series.  For the series, the Dodgers pen pitched nine total innings allowing just two earned runs.  Good enough for a 2.00 ERA which is great especially pitching at the nightmare known as Coors Field.

On Friday the bullpen went to work after Kershaw pitched six innings and used five relievers to combine for three shutout innings.  Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro, Ross Stripling, Scott Alexander, and Kenta Maeda all combined to put up three shutout innings.  It was Kenta Maeda who nailed down the final outs of the series-opening win.

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On Saturday, the Dodgers lost but the bullpen once again put up two scoreless innings.  Walker Buehler pitched six innings allowing four runs and the bullpen kept the Dodgers in the game until the end by holding the Rockies scoreless.  Zac Rosscup, Pat Venditte, and Josh Fields who are the bottom three in the bullpen did not allow a single run in two combined innings.

Yesterday, the Dodger bullpen wasn’t perfect but they combined for four innings allowing two runs.  Those were the only two runs the bullpen allowed the entire three-game series.  Pedro Baez allowed his first run in a month on a solo home run to Nolan Arenado and Caleb Ferguson allowed a solo shot to Charlie Blackmon.

Kenta Maeda worked his way out of a scoreless eighth inning and Scott Alexander allowed a few line drives that found gloves to record his third save of the season.  All in all, it was as close to a perfect series as you could want from a Kenley Jansen-less bullpen in Coors Field.

Jansen will rejoin the Dodgers in Cincinnati and the bullpen will look to continue their momentum towards helping the Dodgers win the division.  The bullpen has pitched much better lately and ranks 4th in MLB, with a 3.05 ERA.