Game One: The Dodgers have a few good pitchers, and they have to use them with great care. So they opened Game One in Citizens Bank Park with Shohei Ohtani on the mound. After not pitching at all in 2024, Ohtani started 14 games this year, but he only threw 47 innings, going 1-1 with an ERA of 2.87. I think the Dodgers were just trying to get him in pitching shape for the playoffs, and that approach mostly worked. Ohtani got off to a rough beginning -- giving up three runs in the second inning. But he calmed down after that, and finished with a quality start: 6 innings, 3 runs, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk. Meanwhile, the rest of the Dodgers fought back with a two-run double from Kike Hernandez in the top of the 6th, and a three-run homer from Teoscar Hernandez in the top of the 7th. The Dodgers got through the last three innings by using Tyler Glasnow (who started 18 games) and rookie Roki Sasaki (who started 8 games) to get eight of the last nine outs, and the Dodgers won 5-3.
Game Two: This game was the epic wheel play struggle that we discussed the other day. The Dodgers' troubled bullpen almost blew a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, but the combination of the wheel play and Sasaki -- who retired Trey Turner to end the game -- allowed the Dodgers to escape Philly with a 4-3 win, and a 2-0 lead in the series.
Game Three: Out in Dodger Stadium, the Phillies finally got their offense going. Former Nat Kyle Schwarber blasted two home runs. The Dodgers were forced to use Clayton Kershaw, their former ace who is retiring at the end of the season, and the Phillies hammered him for five runs over two innings. When it was over, Philly had an easy 8-2 win.
Game Four: This game was probably going to be the decider. It seemed highly unlikely that the Dodgers would lose two games at home, fly across the country to Philly, and beat the Phils on Saturday Night in Game Five. If L.A. was going to advance, they had to do it yesterday.
For us Gen X fans, MLB put on a wonderful show. First, they scheduled the game for 3:08 PM Dodger Time, which meant that most of the game was played in beautiful sunlight. Second, the Dodger fans -- who are much rowdier than when I was a kid -- really understood the gravity of the moment and were in good voice all night. Third, the Phillies broke out the old powder blue uniforms from the 1970's. They normally wear these uniforms as a home alternate -- but, of course, that makes no sense; they were originally meant to be worn on the road. So you would watch this game and almost believe that you had returned to 1978. And I have very fond memories of that year.
As for the game itself, it was a cracker. Glasnow started for the Dodgers, and he was spectacular: 6 innings, 2 hits, no runs. The Phillies went with Cristopher Sanchez, and he was also great. After six innings both teams were tied at zero. In the top of the 7th, the Dodgers went to Emmet Sheehan -- yet another starter they are bringing in from the bullpen. J.T. Realmuto greeted him with a single. Max Kepler forced Realmuto at second, but advanced to second himself on an error. Nick Castellanos doubled Kepler home, and Philly had a 1-0 lead.
They didn't keep it long. With one out, Alex Call walked and Kike Hernandez singled him to second. That was all for Sanchez, who was replaced by Jhoan Duran. A groundout by Andy Pages advanced the runners to second and third and brought up the top of the order. The Phils decided to intentionally walk Ohtani (who went 0-4 in the game) to load the bases for Mookie Betts. With the Dodger fans howling, Betts worked out a walk, and the game was tied. The Dodgers had a chance to blow the game open, but Teoscar Hernandez struck out.
With the game tied at one after seven, both teams settled in for a battle of attrition. The Phillies' bullpen prevented the Dodgers from getting even a hit in the 8th, 9th, and 10th innings. The Dodgers responded by once again turning to Sasaki. This time he was spectacular: three innings, no hits, no walks, no runs. And so it was still 1-all going to the 11th.
In the top of the 11th, the Dodgers got a scoreless inning from Alex Vesia, who is just about the only relief pitcher that they still trust. But clearly the Dodgers were running out of arms, and the pressure was on to do something in the bottom of the inning. Here's what happened.
The Phillies were pitching Jesus Luzardo, another starter moved to the bullpen for playoff purposes. Luzardo had pitched well in the 10th. He started the 11th by striking out Freddie Freeman. Tommy Edman, batting fifth, singled to left. Dave Roberts sent in Hyeseong Kim to run for Edman. Will Smith lined out to center. Two outs. But then Max Muncy singled to center, sending Kim to third and keeping the Dodgers' chances alive. At this point, the Phillies pulled Luzardo and sent in Orion Kerkering (8-4, 33.30 ERA in 69 appearances) to face Kike Hernandez, batting 8th. Hernandez walked, loading the bases for Andy Pages, who was batting .042 in the series.
Meanwhile, let's talk about what I had been doing. For years now, I have been suffering from a worsening case of the "yips" as a sports fan. I can still watch hours and hours of sports -- so long as I don't really care much about the outcome. But if I have a strong rooting interest, I find it extremely difficult to sit still and watch the game -- my pessimism is so great that it's a struggle to stay in front of the TV. I skipped Game One altogether. I could watch Game Two, because even if the Dodgers lost the series would still be tied at one apiece. I skipped Game Three.
So now it was Game Four, and I knew the Dodgers had to win. My first move was to go radio silent for two hours. The advantage of this move is that by the time you check in, one team or the other could have a big lead. Instead, it was 0-0 in the top of the 7th. I checked in later and saw the Dodgers tie the game in the bottom of the 7th. I hoped to see the Dodgers win in the bottom of the 9th, but they didn't. After the bottom of the 10th, I turned off the TV. I wandered the house, trying to figure out how much longer the game would last. When I turned on my iPad to check the score, the Dodgers had runners on 1st and 3d with two out in the bottom of the 11th. So I turned on the Dodger radio broadcast in time to hear the walk that loaded the bases.
This, then, is the situation: The bases are loaded. There are two outs. The Dodgers' worst hitter is at the plate. Dodger Stadium is going nuts. And I'm in my bedroom listening to Dodger Radio on my iPad. I was pleading with Pages not to swing at all and hope for a walk. Meanwhile, on the TBS broadcast, they were reminding the viewers that the force was available at any base.
And I think it's that force play that Kerkering must have had in mind when he saw Pages hit a slow dribbler toward the mound. All Kerkering has to do is pick up the ball and throw back to the catcher. The inning will be over. But Kerkering bobbles the ball. It's not a huge bobble. There's still plenty of time to throw Pages out at first. Realmuto, the Phillies' catcher, is standing on home plate -- pointing to first, because that's where the throw should be. But Kerkering was apparently still thinking of that force at home -- and by now Kim, the pinch runner, who broke with the pitch, is about to cross the plate. So Kerkering hurls the ball toward the plate. He misses everything -- Realmuto, Kim, the umpire -- and the ball goes to the screen. Kim comes home, Pages makes it safe to first, and the Dodgers win the series, three games to one.
Once again, the series had turned on a tricky defensive play. In Game Two, the Dodgers pulled off a perfect wheel play to kill the Phillies key rally. In Game Four, Kerkering lost track of the situation and tried to make an impossible play at home instead of an easy play at first. It's precisely the type of challenging play that should resolve a playoff series, and this year it was the difference between the Dodgers and the Phillies.
In the nightcap, the Cubs dominated Milwaukee 6-0 to force a Game Five in that series. So the Divisional Series now look like this:
NATIONAL LEAGUE:
Milwaukee 2 - 2 Chicago
Philadelphia 1 - 3 Los Angeles
AMERICAN LEAGUE:
Toronto 3 - 1 New York
Seattle 2 - 2 Detroit
This has been a really good year for the Divisional Series. We had no sweeps and two Game Fives. Here's the schedule:
Friday, October 10:
7:08 P.M. Central: Detroit at Seattle (FOX)
Saturday, October 11:
7:08 P.M. Central: Chicago at Milwaukee (TBS)
Rustin Dodd in The Athletic had a fine meditation on Orion Kerkering's Thursday night. Here's a good paragraph from it: "Sports can offer all manner of wisdom. Every game features a winner and a loser, a hero and a goat. The labels can stick for years. But you didn’t have to be a sports fan to understand or relate to what Kerkering was going through on Thursday. He did something very relatable: He had made an error, rushed to fix it, then made it even worse."
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled about the ALCS matchup, and go, Cubs, tonight!
ReplyDeleteWell, dang.
ReplyDelete