Dodgers NLCS: Evan Phillips the Unsung Hero of a Huge Game 5 Win
Things did not get off to a great start on Thursday night in Los Angeles. With the Dodgers facing elimination and throwing a bullpen game, Freddie Freeman’s early 2-run shot took the air out of Chavez Ravine.
Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly had to come out of the game shortly after that with an issue in his biceps. That made things seemingly very difficult for Dave Roberts in his bullpen on a night when they need every inning they could get out of their arms.
But Evan Phillips came out after Kelly went down with an injury and flat-out shoved. He tossed 1.1 perfect innings against the powerhouse Braves offense and struck out 3 in the process. After the game, Doc took the time to recognize Phillips and what he did for the team in the big win.
There’s just something about his calm…To call on him in that spot, I wasn’t worried. It’s just not how we expected it to play out. But in baseball, you’ve got to be able to read and react and Evan stepped up and made us all look good.
The Dodgers scooped up Phillips back in August on waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays. He pitched in just 7 regular-season games with the big league squad. But his addition to the NLCS roster made it so that Doc had another fresh arm ready to go.
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And now just 2 months after the Rays let him walk, here he is pitching huge innings for the Dodgers in the Championship Series. It’s really quite an amazing story.
Next up, the Dodgers travel to Atlanta to play in Game 6 of the NLCS. Max Scherzer is getting the ball in the start to face off against Atlanta RHP Ian Anderson in that one.
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I swear these authors are stealing my stuff. Check the time-stamps!
Phillips was poised last night and definitely kept the Braves under control. He looked as if he could have gone another inning, no problem. I hope to see Evan repeat that performance very soon. Overall, our bullpen has been absolutely amazing and continues to handle business. Go Dodgers!
B McP, we will need all hands on deck for Saturday. Scherzer is scratched. Phillips will surely be asked upon. He’s looked great! Bats need a Game 5 performance.
Let’s go Dodgers!
Check a post I made at 10:58am under the story:
Game 5 win Provides opportunity to erase pitching mistakes
It’s the basis of this story put out at 2:00 pm. Just sayin.
Thanks for having me go to the time and trouble to try to post something twice. First time I couldn’t see it because your header was taking half the page and the second time you said I hadn’t agreed to something. So screw it, I give up.
No doubt.