GAME THREE RECAP AND SOME RANDOM PLAYOFF THOUGHTS:
Showdown between the Rays top pitcher, Charlie Morton (Joe Buck will tell you over and over again that he’s absolutely great!) and Walker Buehler. As in most games, the Dodgers had several objectives: 1. get off to a good start; 2. run up Morton’s pitch count; 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down; 4. Keep the Rays off the bases; and 5. Score more
Showdown between the Rays top pitcher, Charlie Morton (Joe Buck will tell you over and over again that he’s absolutely great!) and Walker Buehler. As in most games, the Dodgers had several objectives:
- 1. get off to a good start;
- 2. run up Morton’s pitch count;
- 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down;
- 4. Keep the Rays off the bases; and
- 5. Score more runs than the Rays.
The Dodgers were successful in all five. Buehler flat out dominated, the Dodgers scored early, and often and the Rays hitters were effectively neutralized. One of the better Dodger wins, as they prevailed 6-2 and took a 2-1 lead in the series.
1st inning
Joe Buck let us know how great Charlie Morton is. While he is good and has had a nice post season, Justin Turner wasn’t all that impressed, as with 2 outs, he took Morton deep, giving the Dodgers the early lead. Muncy followed with a single, but Will Smith couldn’t figure out Morton’s frisbee curve and struck out.
Buehler retired the Rays in order on a ground out to first and two strike outs. He looked relaxed, in command and was throwing nice and easy.
2nd Inning:
Morton had a relatively easy inning, as he retired the Dodgers in order.
Buehler followed up his masterful 1st inning, with another dominant inning, striking out Choi and Margot and inducing Wendle to fly out to left. It was early, but he looked so good, that I found myself thinking that I may see a no-hitter tonight.
3rd Inning:
This was what has become a rather typical inning for the Dodgers. Barnes struck out looking, Betts struck out swinging and Buck reminded us again how great a pitcher Charlie Morton is. Seager then got hit by a pitch, which was followed by a double to left by JT. Muncy followed with a single to center which scored Seager and Turner. Will Smith ended the inning with a fly out to center field. 3-0 good guys at the end of three. Dodgers continue their masterful hitting with two outs. For those who think the Dodgers are not clutch, they have definitely shown themselves to be clutch in this series. I’m not sure this was the inning, but the announcers thought it important to remind us of how Morton shut the Dodgers down in the final game of the 2017 World Series. They even showed the Astros hoisting the WS trophy. Perhaps they forgot about the cheating scandal. In any event, it made me momentarily sick to my stomach.
In the bottom of the inning, Buehler allows his first base runner, with a one out walk to Kiermaier, who was then promptly erased on a double play grounder to third by Zunino. Turner made a great pick and throw to second on the play. Defense helps win games, and JT showed he still knows how to play a little 3rd base when needed.
4th Inning:
Bellinger starts off with a single to center. Taylor strikes out swinging, but Pederson singles down the right field line sending Bellinger to third. Apparently Pederson may have made it to second, but fell down rounding first. Other than what they told us, we don’t know what happened, because Fox doesn’t show us. Barnes then lays down a perfect safety squeeze, scoring Belli, with Joc advancing to second. Betts then singles to center, scoring Joc. Morton ends the inning by getting Seager to ground out to third. 5-0 Dodgers.
Buehler retire the side in order, with Meadows lining out to Bellinger, Lowe then, according to Buck, took a great swing but fouled the ball to the backstop. Apparently he didn’t learn anything from his great swing as he struck out swinging. Arozarena ended the inning by flying out to deep center. Buehler still looks very much in command.
5th Inning:
JT started with a strikeout, but Muncy worked a walk. That was it for Morton, as he was relieved by John Curtiss(who’s middle name happens to be Pickens). Will Smith follows with a fly out to right, and Bellinger strikes out swinging.
Buehler quickly disposes of Choi with a strikeout, but then Margot gets the first hit off Buehler with a double to left. Buehler then gets Wendle to strike out swinging. Unfortunately he hangs a slider to Adames, who also doubles to left, scoring Margot. The Rays are on the board. Kermaier follows with a grounder to Muncy to end the inning. Despite the run, Buehler still looks very much in command, although his pitch count is starting to rise.
6th Inning:
Curtiss is still pitching for the Rays. CT3 starts the inning by striking out. Joc hits a pop fly to third base. Then with two outs (naturally) Barnes gets the run back by hitting a homerun to left center. I read that it was the furthest ball that Barnes has hit all year (425 feet). Good for AB. The role player came up huge when needed. Betts singled to center, and stole second base. Seager walked, but JT ended the inning by lining out to center field.
Buehler allows a one out single to Meadows in the bottom of the inning, but he cooly strikes out the side, as Zunino, Lowe, and Arozarena all go down swinging. That’s how a shut down inning should look. Buehler’s night is finished. His final line 6 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 10 Ks. Just what the Doc ordered.
7th Inning:
Lefty Ryan Sherriff comes on to pitch for the rays. Other than a walk to Smith, he retires the Dodgers with no damage allowed.
Treinen is out for the 7th inning and retires the Rays with relative ease as he strikes two. His pitches looked as good as they have in a while.
8th Inning:
Ryan Thompson is on to pitch for the rays and he retires the Dodgers in order.
Graterol comes on to pitch the bottom of the 8th and he retires the Rays in order on 8 pitches. Nice stress free inning for the Bazooka.
9th Inning:
Shane McClanahan is on to pitch the 9th for the Rays. Seager greets him with single to left, but he is stranded as the next 3 Dodgers fly out. McClanahan is a young lefty that can throw 100 mph. Impressive.
Jansen comes on to pitch the ninth. Meadows strikes out swinging and Lowe is retired on a lazy fly out to Betts. Arozarena hits a 3-2 pitch left out over the plate a long ways for a home run, but Choi ends the game with a fly to left. Despite the homerun, Jansen looked very good. His velocity was up as high as it has been all year, his cutter cut, and he looked relaxed. Whatever Charlie Hough and Rick Honeycutt told him must have resonated as he looks a lot stronger. If only they would give a call to Joe Kelly. in the ninth for the save. There are nervous fans throughout the Dodgers community.
Two wins to go, and 1988 will be a distant memory!!
Some Random Playoff Thoughts:
● Listening to Joe Buck is insufferable.
● It’s my opinion that one day, JT will be a manager, and a good one at that. He’s a great communicator and has tremendous baseball knowledge. In addition, the players appear to respect his leadership qualities. Perhaps the Dodgers could bring him back as a player/coach.
● This is the year for George Lombard to get interviewed for vacant manager positions. While I would hate to see him go, I do hope that he gets th opportunity to manage and that he is a successful manager for many years to come.
● Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin appear to be suffering from nerves. Being on the big stage in the World Series will sometimes do that to you. Despite their minor struggles, I am not ready to give up on them. They both have a chance to be really, really good.
● I know that hitting a baseball is a very hard thing to do, but it frustrates me to no end to watch a hitter strike out looking in the 8th or 9th inning. Game two had me very frustrated as the Dodgers struck out looking several times in those innings. You can’t hit what you don’t swing at.
● The game two home plate umpire needs to go on a n exercise program to increase his flexibility. It did not appear that he could bend over enough to see the low strike. He missed quite a few in the strike zone.
My take on “Me and Julio” with apologies to Paul Simon. It was very quickly written, so not my best effort. Hopefully, it doesn’t jinx Julio for tonight’s game:
Doc named him to start game four
fully rested and part of the rotation
When the fans found out they began to shout
hoping to begin a celebration
would he beat the odds
would he beat the odds
What the hitters saw
It was against the law
Young Julio looked down and he spit on the ground
when he hit his spot and shut them down
Doc said “oh they’ll never get to that boy
he’s got too much spin and determination”
Well he’s on his way
The Rays don’t know what he’s throwing
He owns the Rays
it’s just a matter of time
as he strikes out nine
Goodbye Arozarena, as he goes down swinging
That’s our young Julio
Three down and keeping them from going deep
That’s our young Julio
he’s in command
Whoa, in a couple days Dodgers will hoist the trophy
and the fans will sing with joy
And when the last out was made
Julio will be praised
Julio was all on the cover of Baseball America
And he’s on his way
The Rays don’t where he’s throwing
He’s just a strike away
so he’s taking his time
as he strikes out nine
Goodbye Arozarena, as he goes down swinging
Seein’ my boy Julio
Jump into Will Smith’s arms
Seein’ my boy Julio
Jump into Smith’s arms
Jump into Will Smith’s arms
Jump into Smith’s arms
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Discussion (190)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The pitch location was just terrible on that last pitch… Will was set up high and inside… but Kenley missed and left it middle in. The count was 1-2… that ball shouldn’t have been anywhere near the strike zone. He missed badly on the Kiermaier single… left it over the plate again. And Kenley shockingly left two over the middle of the plate to Arozarena too… but he looked at one and fouled the other off. He has done this so often over the last few years… it is beyond frustrating.
~
Watching the replays again… all the damage against us was done on pitches that caught way too much of the plate. A lot of this seemed to be bad execution by our pitchers… but I did also notice that our pitchers were shaking off Will’s signs a bit throughout the game… not sure if they do that as often with Austin.
~
I would definitely be in favor of having Austin catch the remaining games and Will DHing or pinch hitting. Btw… Will is batting .176 in this series, as of tonight.
Well, here we are again. Bad breaks or not, Jansen can’t close out a game against a sub-.200 hitter. Now CK is faced, yet again, with the WS on his shoulders. This may well be his last chance to quiet all the critics and earn his place in baseball history. I know he is good enough but he’s been here before with disappointing results. If I could will him to win, I would but all I can do is hope. I am hopeful. Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic. We’ve been here before.
So no cakewalk, Dodgers still win tomorrow and win the series.
It bothers the sh*t out of me that Smith still had his mask on taking that throw from Muncy.
Would have been nice to have Belli in CF in the 9th. And we don’t know if his back affected his hitting tonight.
I woukd be shocked if the Dodgers had any hangover tomorrow from this game.
Evan you must be too young to have seen the Giants come from 4-2 behind to score 4 in the 9th and defeat the Dodgers in the final game of their 3 game playoff series in 1962. That’s my most painful Dodger loss. I was too young (5) in 1951 to be disappointed by Bobby Thompson’s HR.
So they pay Kelly all that money to do what?
Roberts said Pedro Baez didn’t execute the pitch he needed to to Lowe. Roberts then takes blame for bringing him back out for the 7th. He initially told him he was done.
You can’t have a manager who doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Can’t have it.
Not great but not over.
You youngsters out there: always run out a ground ball, choke up with two strikes on you, eat your vegetables…
Boy, I really, really hope we can pull this off but this is so reminiscent of the ‘17 WS when we blew a game we should have won. Very hard for a team to recover from a lose like tonight’s. All the momentum is with the Rays now. They played hard and came through and we didn’t when we has the series within our grasp. I’m hoping we can recover but I’ve seen this movie before.
I’m hoping but they have a lot of demons to exorcise.
Ok guys, let’s all not lose our collective Shitaki. Yes, classic Dodger heartbreak loss, but coming from a mid 70’s kid growing up with Vin and Jerry Doggett on the radio, WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED?? This is how we have always rolled, never a lock stock sure bet to win, always on the seat of your pants, butt hangin’ out the window Dodgers. I will never forget when we lost to the Assstros in the world series a few years ago, my then 16 year old son took off into his room after the last out. I knocked on his door about 10 minutes later, and there he was, in a total dark room crying his eyes out, saying, “Damn Pops, I totally thought we would win”. I gave him a heartfelt hug and told him “Welcome to being a Dodger fan”. Next day, He put on his prized Kershaw game jersey on and went to school filled with Giant fans, most of who were his buddies. The kid showed his Dodger balls, and despite what happened tonight, I will stand up and say, I love this team and quit second guessing would have, could have, should have, get behind this team and get this thing done! Yeah,the Rays stole one tonite, but we still have the hammer, and for God’s sake quit second guessin’ Doc. he believes in his guys to the end, it’s not his fault if they don’t execute. Kind of funny, he was a friggin bullpen genius Games 1 and 3, and now he suddenly sucks. Gonna be a long series guys, better buckle up buttercup.
Agree William analytics had them pulling Urías, just like they pulled Hill in 2017. However when you have no pen, pulling starters who are rolling in the name of analytics gets you this. Loss is usually on the players but I blame our entire management team tonight.
Brutal loss but it was one of the most tense incredible games I’ve ever watched! Win or go home tomorrow. It’s in Kersh’s hands now! Time for Mookie and Belly to step up and deliver offensively
In our history of these things in the last 30 years, this may be the worst. Rollins two-out double off Broxton. Blowing a 4-0 and 7-4 lead in Houston. Blowing a 4-1 lead against Boston. Blowing a 3-0 lead against Washington. Now Jansen cannot get the final out, and we botch up the play and we lose.
People will obviously stick to their preconceptions. Mine are that Roberts is a poor game manager. He never should have put Baez back out there for another inning. The Roberts fans will not blame Roberts for putting him out, and will not blame Baez for giving up the homeruns. Roberts should not have bunted with a man on second and none out, it is a terrible play, as we saw. Roberts of course went with Jansen, he was pretty much stuck, though Graterol would have been a safer bet, at least until he put a man on base. Jansen…let’s say he did not come through in the way that a great pitcher should, in his biggest spot ever. That last run was not his fault, but he’s got to get the batter out, and he did not. I will say that he handled the postgame questions with class and dignity, but it doesn’t make it much better. He is not a top closer, no matter how much some fans want to take a good outing or two and decide that he is over his problems. He could not throw the ball by anyone with two strikes, though the one pitch to Arozarrena, I think, was just outside, would have won the game if called a strike, but it was a ball.
We obviously still have a chance to win the series, but it doesn’t feel like it.. Our bullpen is shot. Jansen’s confidence likely is. The only thing that can save it is Kershaw pitching a complete game shutout, and then Buehler doing the same thing. We have no closer, we have no setup man, and Roberts has no idea whom to use, and the management left us in this position again. Well, maybe we’ll rise up and surprise us. It just keeps happening to us in key moments in big games. Maybe it is just bad luck? I feel bad for all the great Dodgers fans, and that includes me. It can happen to any team but our bullpen has let us down time and again, and we still don’t do the things necessary to make it one of the top bullpens in baseball, as it should be, we just do a little patchwork each season, not enough. This is not coincidence that we lose these games.
I’ve seen a lot of them but this has to rank as the most painful loss ever. I still speechless 30 min. later.
It’s not as if Tampa was hitting screaming line drives. First runner on in the 9th was off a broken bat hit just out of Kike’s reach. And don’t think that that didn’t influence how they pitched to Arozarena. And it didn’t help that the Dodgers squandered opportunities to score runs.
I’ve always held that if the Dodgers broke their WS drought it wasn’t going to be easy. Tomorrow’s game is big. Just have to hope that Glasnow doesn’t bring his best game and that the Dodgers bring their bats. And it would certainly help if Kershaw is on top of his game.
No use crying over spillt milk now. Kershaw needs to pitch as good as he did last time out, and the offense needs to get to Glasnow again. So far it has been win, lose, win, lose. You give up 8 runs you usually lose. Your bullpen gives up the lead 3 times, you usually lose. You kick balls at inopportune moments in the game, you lose. All of those things happened tonight. And Jansen was a little unlucky. Keirmarirs hit was a broken bat that barely cleared Kike’s glove. Then he walks Arozarena after he gets Meadows out. 2 outs, 2 strikes on the hitter and every thing that could go wrong does. They cannot take that into tomorrows game. They had 15 hits, left 22 men on base. The game should not have even been that close. Mookie, Muncy, Smith and Taylor left 16 men on base between them. The pen gave up 6 runs over the last 4 innings. This teams Achilles heel is 1 run leads and games. They are not very good at either. Get up, 3 games to 2 and put the pressure on the Rays. Right now, game 6 would be a bullpen game. And the Rays will counter with Snell. Buehler could go if Kersh wins game 5. But then if it came to a game 7 it would be all hands on deck. I am not sure who Doc considers the closer, but I am not sure he has a lot of options. If Kersh really wants to put the bad memories and performances out of his mind, he needs a game 5 that is the exact opposite of what happened in 2017. To say he will be motivated is an understatement. And remember, they have an off day after tomorrows game.
Wow. Speechless on that last play and best not to say much tonight. Dodgers could have made this easy and a lot of guys did their part. I guess I’m glad Urias will be available for game 7, although I prefer the alternative where he isn’t pulled and “imo” we win tonight and wrap up tomr. Rays are beating up our bullpen and might be time to stretch the starters again. Maybe the analytic charts will agree. This is a resilient, high character team and will need it for the final 3 games. Fairly confident it’s going 7 now.
Doc has to go.
Leaving Baez in there
Why not stick with Graterol?
Same ol Jansen and Baez. Same ol Roberts using them in high leverage spots.
Players always win or lose a game but Doc sure makes a case for the manager playing a role. Whether he went with his gut or the math, it didn’t pan out. Yeah, the players win or lose but he made the wrong decision. This will be a hard one to swallow.
The bobbles by Taylor and Smith is not the problem. The Dodgers shouldn’t have been in that situation.
THE BULLPEN ALLOWED 6 RUNS.
Will Smith will not catch another WS game. He might be our DH, but with only three games left to play assuming it goes 7 and CK and WB don’t like pitching to Will. Mookie has to hit in the clutch and he did not tonight.
Baez is garbage, KJ has completely lost his game. 3-1 to 2-2 in a flash and now the match-up looks . It is on the player’s but Doc doesn’t survive this if they don’t win a WS this year.
This is a good example of throwing a game away. What a pity it had to end like this. Smith should have caught the ball in spite of Taylor’s fielding error. I feel bad for Urias and the team in blowing this game. The HR is the one thing you want to avoid giving up no matter who is pitching. Impossible to stop all of them, but 4 HRs is just too much.
So, who thinks Jansen should be our closer?
The momentum is now the side of Rays
Oh well, three games to prove we really are not cursed or poorly managed, Mark stop defending Robert’s, great communicator not a great strategist.
Baez in that spot with two runnners on horrible, even worse to bring his head case back for a second inning when he never pitches well in the second inning, ever,
Look at the history.
Smith had his mask on??? Should have been flipped off immediately. I’ve seen him do that before.