GAME SIX RECAP AND SOME RANDOM PLAYOFF THOUGHTS:

Elimination game, facing the Braves top pitcher, Max Fried, and the Dodgers, besides the obvious need to win, had several objectives:  

            1.         get off to a good start;

            2.         run up Fried’s pitch count;

            3.         Keep Buehler’s pitch count down;

            4.         Keep the Braves off the bases; and

            5.         Score more runs than the Braves.  

The Dodgers were successful on four of the five.   The Braves had 9 hits, but thankfully, Dodgers pitching did not issue any walks.  

Because of work commitments, I followed the game on Gameday and have tried as best as I could to summarize the game. 

1^st inning

Buehler gets ‘em in order on 8 pitches.  Nice start. 

Corey Seager is having a very, very , very good series!   He hits his 6^th homerun of the series.   Not to be out done, JT follows with a solo shot of his own.   Then, after a walk to Muncy, a single by Smith, Bellinger follows with an RBI single.  3-0, and Fried has thrown 24 pitches.   Good start, and the pitch count for Fried is up.    Little did we know this would be the only inning the Dodgers would score.  

2^nd Inning:

Buehler, apparently not impressed by being spotted a lead, immediately reverts to his “let’s see how many runners I can let on base” ways;  3 consecutive singles to start the inning, Dodgers fans everywhere were starting to mutter, “oh no, here we go again”, under their collective breathes.  Bloggers were trying to figure out how to blame it on Roberts.   Not to worry though, Walker starts throwing some serious heat, reaching 100 mph (step aside Graterol and May), and strikes out Riley and Markakis and retires Pache on a grounder to short.  After the bases were loaded, Buehler threw 11 fastballs that registered 98, 98, 99, 98, 98, 98, 99, 99, 100, 99, 98.   Impressive!  This may rank among Buehler’s most important innings ever pitched.   He does get his pitch count up a bit. 

In the bottom of the inning, Fried rights his ship, working around a single by Betts, with 2 strikeouts of his own and a ground out.   It appears, after all, that Seager is human.   

3^rd Inning:

Buehler slows down the stress level, by retiring Acuna, Freeman and Ozuna in order.    

The Mighty Muncy did not strike out, starting the bottom of the inning with a single.  Will Smith, however, did strike out.  Bellinger flied out and Pollock grounded into a force out.   Fried is starting to settle down and has regained control of his pitch count.  He and Buehler have thrown 47 and 46 pitches, respectively after 3. 

4^th Inning:

D’Arnaud starts with a single.  How did we ever let this guy get away?   Albies strikes out.   Swanson then singles.   Blister Boy bears down again by striking out Riley, and getting Markakis to hit a sharp grounder balk to the box.   Buehler is up to 65 pitches, making it relatively certain he will not pitch a complete game shut-out.

Kike starts off the bottom of the inning determined to work the count, instead he swings at the 2^nd pitch and grounds out to third.   Barnes, however, does work the count full and then singles.   Betts follows with a walk, and Seager grounds into a force-out, advancing Barnes to 3^rd.    Turner also works the count, but ends up grounding out to third.   Pitch count for Fried is at 69.  He too, will not pitch a complete game.       

5^th Inning:

Buehler quickly gets 2 outs, before Freeman rips a ball to right center, but is held to a single on a super nice play by Betts.  Ozuna follows with a long fly to right on which Betts makes a great catch, causing him to do a happy dance back to the dugout.  I think I’ll take a break to order a “Belli and the Ball” t-shirt for one grandson and “Mookie and the Ball” shirt for my other grandson.   Takes Buehler only 9 pitches to get through this inning.

This time the Mighty Muncy did strike out.   Will Smith follows with a fly out to Acuna.  Belli walks and Pollock follows with a ground out to Fried.   Fried up to 84 pitches.  

6^th Inning:

D’Arnaud starts with a strike out.   Albies is out on a weird play at first, as Muncy fortuitously commits an error, but somehow the ball is picked up by Buehler, who tags out Albies as he’s heading back to the dugout.  Paying attention is important in baseball.   Swanson then singles, steals second and advances to third on a throwing error by Barnes.  Riley helps us out by striking out for the 2^nd time.   Buehler up to 89 pitches, and this is his last inning.   Buehler pitches 6 shutout innings, allowing 7 hits, no walks and 6 ks.   The no walks was huge.  This was as good an outing as we could have asked for from Buehler, particularly in light of his recent outings.  

Fried is still pitching for the Braves in the bottom of the inning.   Kike still hasn’t figured out how to work a count, choosing to ground out on the first pitch of the inning.   Barnes again shows him how it’s done, and singles on the 5^th pitch thrown to him.  Unfortunately, Mookie grounds into a double play.  

7^th Inning:

Treinen is out for the 7^th inning and promptly gives up a triple to Markakis on the first pitch.  Once again, Dodgers fans are starting to get nervous.   Pache follows with a ground out.  Acuna, however, puts the Braves on the board with a double.   Treinen strikes out Freeman and retires Ozuna on a fly out to Betts to end the inning.   Big sighs everywhere.    

Surprisingly, Fried comes back out for the bottom of the inning.  He immediately shows why, as he retires Seager on one pitch.  Turner follows with a walk, but on Fried’s 109^th pitch, Muncy strikes out swinging, on a pitch that appeared to be out of the zone.  Considering Fried’s start to this game, you have to applaud the young man’s effort.  He is a very good young pitcher who, barring injury, will only get better.  He may, in fact, be this year’s Cy Young winner.   Darren O’ Day comes on to relieve Fried and gets Smith to ground into a force out.      

8^th Inning:

Baez comes on for the Dodgers(gulp), and pitches a typical “Petey” inning, throwing, what seems like a lot of pitches.  But, he strikes out D’Arnaud; he then induces Albies to foul out to Seager and gets Swanson to fly out to Betts.   Nothing to it!  

Chris Martin comes on for the Braves to face Bellinger.   Jansen is warming in the pen for the Dodgers (another gulp).  Bellinger hangs tough, but ultimately flied out to Pache on a very nice catch.   Joc pinch hits for A. J. and singles to center.  Kike then chased a slider and flied out to left.   Rios comes on to pinch-hit for Barnes, and draws a walk.   But, Martin gets Betts to fly out to center to end the inning.   

9^th Inning:

Jansen comes on in the ninth for the save.   There are nervous fans throughout the Dodgers community.   On his first pitch, Riley lines out to left fielder Pederson, who makes a nice catch.   On his second pitch, Jansen gets Markakis to fly out to Bellinger.  Sandoval then lines out to Pederson.   Game Over!  

The Dodgers live to play another day!  I don’t wish him any ill will, but I hope that Ian Anderson comes out and pitches like “Cross-eyed Mary” tomorrow and that the Dodgers Bungle in the Jungle.  Bear will understand that reference. 

Some Random Playoff Thoughts: 

●          Because I followed the game on Gameday, I wasn’t able to see how Jansen’s pitches were cutting.  I was impressed with his effort on Friday.   His pitches looked very crisp and he looked much more confidant.  I’ll take that Jansen any day.        

●          I feel badly for Clayton Kershaw.  He did not pitch his best game on Thursday, but he definitely deserved a little better from his fielders and the relievers that followed him.   That said, I hope he gets to start one or two games in the WS and pitches absolute gems.  

●          The thought of the Houston Astros playing in the World Series, makes me want to vomit.  I’m finishing this article just as the Rays and Astros game is starting.   I’m cheering for the rays all the way.  

●          To borrow from the title of a children’s book, Max Muncy has had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year.  That said, his walk in the 6^th inning on Friday night was huge.   Walks aren’t very sexy, but that one helped change the whole complexion of the game. 

●          It is nice to see some fans in the stands, but I haven’t warmed up at all to playing on a neutral site.   But, then again, this is the weirdest of seasons.