NLCS Game 4 Thread: Oct 15 vs. Brewers, 5p

Tyler Glasnow vs. TBD.

This series has been a spanking, but at least it's a full team loss where everyone is to blame.

All the talk before Game 3 was about Shohei Ohtani, "adamant" that he was healthy enough to start, but clearly just as feeble in Game 3. He's injured, he should not be playing, and what's worse, the Dodgers shouldn't be capitulating to his whims (though hopefully, this sets a foundation for future discussions). I actually think it is worse for Ohtani's legacy to insist on playing like this.

But Ohtani isn't the only problem. We have two XBH this whole series: a double by Kyle Tucker and a double by Will Smith (which briefly gave us the lead last night). Everyone in the lineup--Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Max Muncy, Andy Pages, Smith, Kiké Hernandez, Tommy Edman--looks thoroughly lost. Only Tucker, Miguel Rojas, and Muncy have OPS above .800 this postseason.

We haven't gotten more than one hit with RISP in any of the the three games this NLCS, a collective 2-for-16. When we get leadoff runners on, which happened frequently last night, we can't score them.

Our starters didn't last in either Games 1 or 2, and then even in Game 3, Blake Snell (who was sailing pretty well after giving up a leadoff HR in the first) ruptured in the seventh.

Was that manager Dave Roberts' fault for leaving Snell in too long? Possibly, though that wasn't Roberts' only gaffe last night managing the lineup, sending Muncy and Kiké Hernandez up for wasted strikeout ABs, while wasting the slot of Andy Pages (the team's best defender) as well as Josue De Paula (who was incomprehensibly announced at the end of a stuggling Juan Uribe stint, only to have Brewers manager Pat Murphy wait to select and announce his reliever, which then moved Roberts to waste De Paula and slot in Hernandez (to poor results)).

Bill Shaikin of the LA Times played back how Roberts explained every single one of his calls last night, none of which worked out. I am a Roberts fan, and have seen him improve his ability to make in-game decisions during his tenure. But last night was a f'ing disaster.

But Roberts isn't playing on the field, so let's get back to those culprits.

Our bullpen has given up runs when we've needed them to be solid. Every time we score a run, the Brewers seem to answer back in the next half-inning, killing any momentum or excitement. Milwaukee's ability to clap back sort of seems a lot like how we used to feel about these Dodgers: "we're never out of it, we can come right back." Talk about a role reversal. I feel like when we scratch across a run, it's always precarious.

I never felt like that in the last two postseasons.

So to sum: bad hitting, no power, bad starters, bad relief, bad management. And this team just looks like everyone suddenly aged overnight--no fight left at all.

Although it hurt to read and accept it, I loved Ken Rosenthal's article in the Athletic about the Dodgers, following Game 2's loss:

It’s not over. But if you were to picture the end of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ championship run, this is how it would look, no?

A physically compromised Shohei Ohtani bearing no resemblance to his usual MVP self. An offensively challenged lineup managing only one extra-base hit in two games. Co-aces Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasting a combined 7 2/3 innings in their two starts.

He's right. It certainly looks like the end of this run.

Hoping the miracle starts tonight.