10 to go
It all comes down to that, insofar as the Dodger players are concerned. Nothing less than 10 more wins will satisfy them. They want that World championship. It s just that simple. That s the goal and that s is all they are focused on. So, it was no surprise to see the Dodgers show up with their lunch pails and systematically dismantle the Nationals pitching. It was also no surprise to see
It all comes down to that, insofar as the Dodger players are concerned. Nothing less than 10 more wins will satisfy them. They want that World championship. It’s just that simple. That’s the goal and that’s is all they are focused on.
So, it was no surprise to see the Dodgers show up with their lunch pails and systematically dismantle the Nationals pitching. It was also no surprise to see Striker Buehler allow just 1 hit over 6 innings. The Nats aren’t chumps. They have the second-best offense in the NL to the Dodgers… and they make Striker work! Then the bullpen did their job. Adam Kolarek was evidently put on the roster to pitch to Juan Sota and he did his job. He may only face 4 or 5 hitters in this round, but if he does that, I guess it’s worth it. It certainly was last night.
Next, Maeda was filthy and then Machine Gun Kelly mowed them down in the 9th inning. I would have to say that last night’s game was a “pitchers’ duel” as the Dodgers only got 7 hits and the Nats got 3. But the Dodgers got 7 walks to go with those 7 hits so they manufactured most of their runs. Rookie Gavin Lux and Joc Pederson hit the only bombs for the Boys in Blue. The cool part was that neither player started the game.
Last night’s heroes were on the bench. I give a ton of credit to Robert Van Socyoc and his team and to Rick Honeycutt and Mark Prior. These guys knew that they would have to make the most with the least and they did. The Nat’s bullpen deficiency was really magnified. The Dodgers were patient and worked the counts. Of course, Patrick Corbin is a very good pitcher and so they had to work for what little they got.
Winning game one was huge but the Dodgers were subdued in their celebration – they want to celebrate after 11 playoff wins. That’s their plan. They are only focused on the “Next game!” They have been here before, only to stumble and fall. There will be no big celebration until their goal is realized.
It was a satisfying win, but the Nationals are not just going to lay down and die. Their starting rotation is good, even if the bullpen isn’t. Stephen Strasburg goes tonight and the silver lining for the Dodgers could be that Strasburg has logged 209 innings while Clayton Kershaw sits at 178 innings. Max Scherzer also is not 100%, but these guys don’t give up. The Dodgers are going to have to “take it.” They did last night – now they have to keep it up.
When the players execute, Dave Roberts is a genius – when they don’t, he’s an idiot! Are you starting to figure out that it’s the players, not Doc?
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (95)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Last night was bittersweet.
LOVED the Dodgers game but then watched GZ’s kick sail JUST right.
Oh well Ill take a playoff win over a reg season win any day of the week. Rams still win that division.
Lets get it done Kersh!!!
Good post, 59. I agree. It was a good game all around. Pitching, hitting, defense. I have always believed that CT3 is one of the best outfielders next to Bellinger. His catch in right field was awesome. He did not have much of home plate to touch when he tried to score from 1st base. At least that is what it looked like to me. Go Dodgers.
I saw something on Bleacher Report this morning that Juan Soto doesn’t think that Buehler is anything special. If there’s a way to do it, I have yet to figure out a way to copy and paste a link with my phone.
The Dodgers took advantage of the Nationals mistakes. Not sure of the inning and we had Bellinger on third and Taylor on first, nobody out, and did not score. I thought here we go again. Missed a great opportunity. From that point on they took advantage of the Nationals mistakes. Smith was a little unlucky last night. Hit the ball well with nothing to show for his work. It will come. The Dodger hitters did not swing at bad pitches.
Doc didn’t do anything too stupid last night, except for bat a rusty Turner and Freese back to back and wedge CT3 between Belli and Muncy. It worked out for him. Actually, after 3 years of managing, he might actually be learning not to over manage. I’ve mentioned several times towards the end of the season that Doc wasn’t driving me crazy, so I recognized that he’s getting better. This is just win no 1, so I’ll wait until the post-season is over to completely change my mind about him. Maybe he’ll even learn to drive better!
Doc loves the loogy and maybe Kolarek is the missing piece, Doc’s superpower.
Last night was a great game. The Dodgers certainly look like a team that’s been there before. They played clean baseball and had a plan at the plate. I’m a bit disappointed that the rusty righties didn’t do more against that lefty starter, but c’est la vie. The results were perfect.
Bueller was awesome, Kolarek got his guy, Maeda kept them completely off-balance and Kelly was overwhelming. So, much for our horrible pitching.
Those righties, the ones that didn’t play much down the stretch looked that way. They were all stacked at the top of the order and looked like they haven’t played since the all-star break. Hopefully they get into a rhythm soon, but they probably won’t see much more time until the next series.
It was Muncy, Joc and Lux on offense and that was enough. Will Smith crushed a couple of balls, but didn’t get the results.
The defense played great, crisp baseball and was probably the difference in the game. Ask Howie Kendrick if you don’t agree. CT3’s play in right is a reminder of how good he is on defense were ever you put him. It was great to see CT3 and Kike NOT starting the same game. Doc is learning, or the roster is better. Either way, I’ll take it.
I went to bed happy, woke up happy. Today is a special treat with 4 playoff games. Baseball heaven. Now, let’s go get game 2 and put this to bed quickly.
And Mark, that’s why they added Kolarek!!
It was a good victory last night. It was a very workmanlike effort by the Dodgers. Corbin was as tough to hit as we expected he would be. The hitters patience paid off.
Please give us 10 more of the same!! I’m all in for that.
Well one thing we ALL agreed on all year is that the relievers were one of our strengths.
And Pollock, Freese, Beli 0-9, and we still score 6 runs