As the Los Angeles Dodgers were on their way to beating the Cincinnati Reds in Wild Card Game 1 on Tuesday evening, there was a lot to be excited about. The offense was firing on all cylinders, Blake Snell was shoving through seven innings, and the energy was sensational at Dodger Stadium.
Then the bullpen entered the game.
A 59-pitch inning from Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez, and Jack Dreyer resulted in three earned runs, four walks, and just one strikeout. It also brought a comfortable 10-2 game to a much more nerve-wracking 10-5.
Although not on the Wild Card roster (due to his 94-pitch outing on Sunday), future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw has been seen as a potential option to provide relief to the Dodgers bullpen situation in October. When manager Dave Roberts was asked if the Dodgers will include the three-time Cy Young award winner on the NLDS roster, he appeared to be counting the minutes until the Dodgers advance.
“If we’re fortunate enough,” Roberts said, “he’ll be on the DS roster, yes.”
The bullpen woes are unfortunately not new to LA this season, and relief pitchers leaving a sour taste after a starting pitcher tossed a gem has been a familiar feeling in September. If the Dodgers want to become baseball’s first repeat champions in 25 years, though, these performances can’t be tolerated.
Eight runs of support going into the eighth inning was a luxury the Dodgers had on Tuesday, but as October soldiers on, there needs to be more arms that LA can rely upon.
Perhaps this can be where Kershaw shines assuming there is an NLDS for the Dodgers.
The 11-time All-Star has a 1.69 ERA across his last three outings, one of which was a relief appearance in a high level situation against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Although there is a big difference between a regular season game and October, Kershaw looks to be one of the best options for LA at this point in time.
More news: Dodgers’ Kiké Hernandez Forced to Exit Wild Card Game vs Reds With Apparent Injury
Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
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11 Responses
I think Dave Roberts is always seeking attention & notoriety often times , above the winning interests of Dodgers & Team sport! Continual poor decisions that have caused the Dodgers more world championships. He brags how many division championships he has but, how many world championships ? Only one I know???
2 – 2020 and 2024
As Snarky says, there are two. The Dodgers also made it to the WS in 2017 and 2018. 2017 they lost to a team that was proven to have cheated in every single home game in the regular season and playoffs. And LAD still forced it to a 7th and deciding game. The World Series winner was either them or went through them from 2016 – 2021.
And for the haters, and even some Dodgers’ fans who question 2020, I’ll only say every single team knew what they were playing for and all teams had an equal chance to win it. If it was your team, you’d “count” it. Also, NBA and NHL championships that year were won and celebrated with compromised fan attendance and modified playoff formats. Case closed.
Not a Roberts fan boy as he’s made many decisions that have made me lose my mind, but this hate for someone with his overall record really needs to stop.
Agree with last comment about the 2020 WS everyone cries that it wasn’t a real WS but if we are really honest it was probably harder , with ppl sick some dieing , worries about not getting sick , playing in a bubble I’d say it was more stressful thus being harder, so like he said if it was so easy or irrelevant why didn’t all you haters team win it,
I agree. Everyone had to play in those same circumstances too, so it was fair for everywhere. People tend to act like the Dodgers had some sort of advantage over everyone else.
I find it funny all these “Couch Managers”. I would be curious if we had the technology and mentality today back when Tommy Lasorda took over the team and his record? Decisions he made. Granted, I LOVE Tommy and what he stood for the his love of the game how he bled Dodger blue.
Tommy lost the WS in 77, 78, won in in 81, won it in 88. He had the Dodgers winning 8 division titles in 20 years of managing the Dodgers. He was awesome, but there were some bad decisions and some painful times. Lets just take the letting Niedenfuer pitch? Yes, he gave up Ozzie Smith’s first ever Home Run left handed and that led to a 3-2 win for the cards, but then 2 games later, you allow, Niedenfuer to pitch to Jack Clark, a powerful hitter in Jack Clark and Cards win the series. Nied was already on his 3rd inning in relief.
You all would have wanted Tommy’s head on that one.
Yes, Roberts has done some crazy and frustrating stuff, but he is a winner and so far he has managed the Dodgers for 10 years, won 9 division titles and has been in the playoffs each of his 10 years. Four WS appearances with two titles, one and possibly two on the WS losses were to one team (Hou) who cheated and they learned it from Cora, who managed the other team the Dodgers lost to the Red Sox.
I say Roberts is doing well. GO BIG BLUE!
Hi Scott, I agree with your take on Roberts! He gets a lot of criticism, but he’s done a fantastic job given all the injuries and players underperforming. Roberts knows what it takes to win, and hopefully he continues to manage the team well in the NLDS.
I think the Phillies will beat us but I won’t give till last out
The Phillies are definitely a tough matchup for the Dodgers because of how many left-handed pitchers they have. However, if LA managed to escape the NLDS then I don’t see any team beating the Dodgers.
It should definitely be a great series — do you think it goes 5 games?
It’s definitely an uphill battle after using Snell and Yama in the Wild Card series, but this group never gives up! I’m sure they’ll pull through