SAN DIEGO — With a decimated rotation, injuries to the batting lineup, and a season in jeopardy, late Wednesday afternoon a group of nearly a dozen Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers decided to try something that seemed impossible at the time. I walked toward the center field bullpen at Petco Park. – Tame the vaunted San Diego Padres offense, calm the opposing crowd, and send this National League Division Series back to Los Angeles.
Their only hope was to do what they had always done: stick together, follow a set plan, and prepare for everything to unravel.
“Obviously things can change,” said Daniel Hudson, the group’s most senior member. “I mean, we all have a plan until we get punched in the mouth, right?”
On this night, in a must-win Game 4, the Dodgers used eight relievers to shut out the Padres, winning 8-0 and setting up a winner-take-all Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. I set the table. on friday.
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Along the way, they made history by pitching in that order: Ryan Brazier, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, Alex Bashear, Evan Phillips, Hudson, Blake Treinen and Landon Knack. The Dodgers became the second team in history to pitch nine shutout innings using at least eight different pitchers.
Until Wednesday, no team had ever achieved a postseason shutout in a game in which the starting pitcher had four or fewer outs. Then the Dodgers and Detroit Tigers (another team severely lacking in starting pitchers) did it at about the same time.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his team, “I’m proud.” “I think when you’re in the regular season, there’s a lot of variables because a lot of things are kind of calculated and you’re playing with a long-term view. But once you get into the postseason, it’s just a street game. It’s about the people and the players and their desire has to be more than their opponents and for me, going through what the players have been through and responding the way they have. That’s what makes me really excited for Game 5.”
During Wednesday morning’s team breakfast, the Dodgers decided they would have to sideline Freddie Freeman, who continues to suffer from a sprained right ankle and soreness throughout his body. reduced the number of Until 2 hours before the first pitch.
“It’s a little bit of gamesmanship,” Freeman said.
They also knew last night that shortstop Miguel Rojas would be sidelined, but he has played the better part of a month with a tear in his groin area.
And the Dodgers have believed for weeks and even months that they wouldn’t have enough starting pitchers to field a traditional four-man rotation in the playoffs. Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw and Emmett Sheehan all overcame season-ending injuries. When the Dodgers lost Game 3 on Tuesday night and were on the brink of elimination, the Dodgers staff decided to play the bullpen in Game 4. The next morning, the Dodgers selected Brazier, a 37-year-old right-hander who had been used as a pitcher three times. He was said to be a starter in the opening game in September.
Brazier sped up his usual pregame routine by a few hours and took the mound in the bottom of the first inning, with Mookie Betts’ homer leading 1-0, and ran through the top of the Padres’ lineup. When Brazier started in the bottom of the second inning, the Dodgers’ lead had increased to 3-0 with RBIs by Betts and Shohei Ohtani. He induced Manny Machado to ground out, making way for Banda, one of the Dodgers’ left-handers, who suffered a hairline fracture a month earlier when he smashed his left fist into a paper towel dispenser in frustration. I lost it.
After Banda avoided a two-on, one-out situation in the second inning, Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a 432-foot, two-run homer to center field, the longest home run of the postseason. Kopech pitched a scoreless third inning, with Bashear recording five outs and allowing only two base runners. Phillips then retired four batters in order, leading his team through the sixth inning.
In the next half inning, the Dodgers escaped with a three-run homer by Gavin Lux. But Roberts used Hudson and Treinen for an inning anyway, then brought in Knack, his only starting pitching option for Game 4, to close out the game.
It was the first time since July 19 that the Padres were shut out.
“The chemistry in this clubhouse, our guys have a lot of grit,” Hudson said. “There’s no quit on this team. We’re obviously backing up against the wall. We knew we had to come out here and play against them to get back to LA.”
If that happens, a Dodgers team that is hanging on the proverbial hook in more ways than one might suddenly have an advantage. Game 5 will be played at home and will feature two of the best starting pitchers in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty. Roberts said both are options, but so is another bullpen game.
The group he knew he would have to rely on heavily this postseason continues to give him confidence.
Smith said of the Dodgers’ relievers, “Attacking the zone, keeping guys away, zeroing in, everything was great.” “We needed that tonight.”
