Alex Vesia’s near-immaculate Dodgers save vs. Mets was about more than baseball

On Tuesday night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Nolan McLean were locked in an epic battle of wills. Yamamoto's only gaffe was giving up a leadoff homer to Francisco Lindor; McLean also got the worst of his outing out of the way early when he gave up a walk, double, and RBI groundout at the bottom of the first.

Otherwise, Yamamoto went 6 2/3 more while McLean went six, scoreless on all sides. After the first and through the top of the fifth, both had taken opposing batters down 1-2-3 on every turn.

The Dodgers were only able to capitalize when McLean was taken out and replaced by Mets reliever Brooks Raley, who gave up a walk, a sac bunt to move the runner to second, an intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani, and then a bloop single in left field from Kyle Tucker for the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.

Edwin Díaz was designated "day-to-day" ahead of this series against his old Mets but wasn't entirely ruled out for the series. This would've been the perfect time to call him in, right?

Alex Vesia got the call instead. He proceeded to get three swinging strikeouts, and was just one errant pitch to Bo Bichette away from an immaculate inning.

Alex Vesia preserves Yoshinobu Yamamoto gem for Dodgers on Healthcare Appreciation Night in LA

It happened to be Healthcare Appreciation Night at Dodger Stadium, and in attendance were the healthcare providers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who helped Vesia and his wife Kayla through the loss of their daughter Sterling last October.

"To see them — today was the first time I've seen pretty much all of them since everything," Vesia said. "So it was very special, very emotional. One of the main, main nurses, she was here tonight, too, [the one that] took care of us. That was awesome. I couldn't have written it any better."

Vesia has been a foundational piece of the Dodgers' bullpen since 2021, and consistently one of their best even when the rest of the relief staff falls apart around him. Leaving Díaz sitting was the right decision for him, but the Dodgers also have every reason to put their trust in Vesia in these situations.

It just so happened that it was also a special night for the Vesias and their guests. They were treated to a pitching gem (on both sides) and a save by the guy they really came to see. You couldn't have drawn it up better.

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