Dodgers’ bullpen falters as Nationals force a game five
The Dodgers’ bullpen fell apart on Monday evening and now there will be a decisive game five in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
All pressure was on the Nationals and Max Scherzer on Monday as the Dodgers were looking to eliminate Washington from the postseason. Scherzer looked as comfortable as ever and really settled in after the third inning. Max threw in the upper 90’s when necessary but he stayed in the mid 90’s for most of the game with pin point control until the seventh inning when he appeared fatigued.
Rich Hill was not sharp but it was a valiant effort for the veteran southpaw and hopefully he gets another outing with the Dodgers as it would mean the Dodgers in game five and are in the NLCS. He walked four and allowed a run. Most of the damage was done against Julio Urias and Pedro Baez as Baez gave up a game changing three run home run to Ryan Zimmerman. Here are the takeaways from the series knotting game four.
Dodgers’ RISP woes continue
It appeared that the Dodgers had a chance to break through against Max Scherzer in the seventh inning as they loaded the bases with one out. Chris Taylor struck out and then Joc Pederson grounded out to second base after just missing out on a bases clearing double as his ball fell just foul. Just as Zimmerman’s ball just got out, Joc’s ball just went foul and the difference was profound.
Thanks in large part to that failure with the bases loaded, the Dodgers left seven runners on base and went 0-8 with runners in scoring position. If the Dodgers are going to advance to the NLCS they will need to capitalize on what figures to be limited scoring opportunities against Stephen Strasburg. They will need to generate offense by doing the little things like moving runners over and driving them in even if it doesn’t come on a base hit.
Dodger bullpen has an off day
The Dodger bullpen was supposed to be one of the biggest strengths over the Washington Nationals and it had been up until game four. Julio Urias gave up three hits and three runs in just 2/3 of an inning with the bulk coming on a three run home run against Pedro Baez. Petey has been the Dodgers’ best high leverage reliever all season but on Monday he was bested by Ryan Zimmerman who took a fastball out of the zone over the centerfield wall.
Clayton Kershaw will likely come out of the bullpen for Wednesday’s game five as it will be all hands on deck. Kershaw warmed up in the bullpen and stretched around a bit during game four but was not used. Kenta Maeda was the one reliever who continued to do magnificent work out of the pen on Monday.
All hands on deck Wednesday
Just as the Dodgers defeated the Nationals in an epic game five of the 2016 NLDS, this series could be headed for another classic finish. Clayton Kershaw came out of the bullpen in that game five and he will come out of the bullpen on Wednesday, most likely. The Dodgers will not be afraid to use anyone with their season hanging in the balance outside of maybe Rich Hill.
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Walker Buehler will make the biggest start of his career since he started game seven of the NLCS a year ago. The reason that the Dodgers wanted Buehler to start game one was so that he would be on track for a possible game five. Now the Dodgers are getting that exact scenario and if they advance it will be because of stellar start by Buehler.
Dave Roberts will also be on watch as he is taking some flak for moves made in game four. Roberts took out Kenta Maeda which backfired after Urias came in and put runners on base to set up the Zimmerman home run off of Baez. Then he pinch hit CT3 over David Freese which did not work out. Regardless of what happens Wednesday, if the Dodgers lose there will be blame put on Roberts.
The Dodgers are the deepest team in the National League and they will look to use that to their advantage in game five. The Nationals already had an “all hands on deck” game for the wild card matchup and now they are turning to Strasburg yet again. A much fresher and deeper Dodger team should be able to extend their season beyond Wednesday.