Dodgers’ NLDS Game 4 victory unveils potential fatal error by Giants

It all now comes down to Game 5 in San Francisco on Thursday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Giants in a win-or-go-home NLDS Game 4.

Walker Buehler pitched on short rest for the first time in his career and allowed just one earned run over 4.1 innings of work. His status as a Dodgers postseason legend is growing each and every year. Enough cannot be said about his track record thus far in his young career.

While Buehler’s outing was gutsy, his job was simply to keep the Giants from getting on the board early. The Dodgers offense needed to wake up after being shut out in Games 1 and 3. They erupted in Game 2 and spent all of Game 4 breaking down the Giants pitching staff and eventually viciously chewing away at the bullpen.

In the process, LA might have exposed a fatal error by Giants manager Gabe Kapler. Is this really where San Fran wanted to be? Using the inexperienced Logan Webb in a do-or-die Game 5 with the momentum on the Dodgers’ side?

Eh, call it nitpicking since we’re discussing a 107-win team and a 106-win team, but the Giants had to have known they were out-matched. The Dodgers have better players, more depth, more experience. Swiping those first two games at Oracle Park felt essential.

So why didn’t the Giants start Anthony DeSclafani in Game 2 at home and swap him with Kevin Gausman? Let us explain.

Did the Dodgers expose a potential fatal error by the Giants in the NLDS?

Check out these splits for Gausman and DeSclafani in 2021:

• Gausman at Oracle Park: 6-4, 3.44 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 100 strikeouts and 25 walks in 14 starts
• DeSclafani at Oracle Park: 8-3, 3.10 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 63 strikeouts and 17 walks in 14 starts
• Gausman at Dodger Stadium: 1-1, 3.21 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 16 strikeouts and 8 walks in three starts
• DeSclafani at Dodger Stadium: 0-1, 4.60 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 16 strikeouts and 7 walks in three starts
• Gausman on the road: 8-2, 2.33 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 127 strikeouts and 25 walks in 19 starts
• DeSclafani on the road: 5-4, 3.22 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 89 strikeouts and 25 walks in 17 starts

Why not start DeSclafani in Game 2 since he’s better at home and way worse at Dodger Stadium? Why not start Gausman in Game 4 since he’s, in general, way better on the road? Perhaps it came down to rest days and Kapler didn’t want to screw up the schedule. DeSclafani’s last start came on Oct. 1 and Gausman’s came on Oct. 2. Then again, either way, both of them were pitching with much more rest than usual. Did it really matter?

In Game 4 on Tuesday night, DeSclafani lasted just 1.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits. He was pulled after 28 pitches and Kapler proceeded to burn the bullpen in an attempt to keep a game that felt out of reach right from the jump within striking distance.

Sevens pitchers and a 7-2 loss later, it now looks like Gausman may have to piggyback Webb, who has 48 big league games, one full-ish campaign as a starter, one postseason start under his belt, in winner-take-all Game 5. 

As for the Dodgers, postseason hero Julio Urias, who defeated the Giants at Oracle Park in Game 2, will get the ball with an arsenal of arms behind him in what will be an all-hands-on-deck affair. Urias at Oracle Park this year? 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 28 strikeouts and one walk in four total starts (three regular season, one postseason).

Looks like Dave Roberts has Kapler’s king in check.

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