Random rantings and ravings about the Los Angeles Dodgers, written by a small consortium of rabid Dodger fans. With occasional comments on baseball, entertainment, pop culture, and life in general.
Showing posts with label Post-Game Thread 2025. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Post-Game Thread 2025. Show all posts
In the end, it wasn't about ruining baseball. It was about grit.
And the Dodgers had it--arguably, even more than the Toronto Blue Jays.
For the Dodgers to go into Rogers Centre needing to win both games, and then winning Game 7 in an extra-inning classic--amazing. This one will be remembered for all time. And what a gutty win after getting kicked in the nuts early, with Shohei Ohtani giving up a three-run HR to Bo Bichette in an extremely abbreivated start.
Ohtani didn't have it on the mound this night, but the truth is, this Dodger team is much more than even its brightest star. The 2025 Dodgers showcase a roster full of future Hall of Famers, but also honors a panoply of unsung and unlikely heroes:
Max Muncy, whose eighth-inning home run brought us within one run of a comeback.
Miguel Rojas, an unlikely savior with his game-tying home run in the ninth inning.
Andy Pages, who ran over Kiké Hernandez in the ninth inning on a deep gapper fly ball, to preserve the tie game.
Will Smith, overshadowed superstar workhorse catcher, with the game-winning solo home run in the 11th.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, winner of World Series Game 6 and 7, the latter on zero days rest.
Mookie Betts, whose clutch double play to end the 2025 World Series showed off his fully-honed defensive skills at a brand new position.
And let's not forget some of the little guys who got us here:
Justin Dean, whose headsup play to call for the deadball in Game 6 saved us the game.
Will Klein, whose Game 3 heroics earned us a victory in the 18-inning marathon.
Justin Wrobleski, whose fourth-inning inside pitches in Game 7 fired the Dodgers back up.
And of course, Dave Roberts, who made incredible decisions all series long, a grandmaster of chess moves in this World Series.
I'm still processing this one (and, hung over), but I wanted to get something posted.
Congratulations to the 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers. What an incredible ride.
The Dodgers only had four hits all game (to the Blue Jays' eight hits), and even made the game's only error (a Max Muncy misplay). And yet, the Dodgers prevailed in World Series Game 6, 3-1, capping another largely-medicore game at the plate (12 Ks, with three of those coming from Teoscar Hernandez' continual whiffs in his 0-for-4 night) with a very surprising road victory.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto had another great postseason start, though his line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 6 Ks, didn't match up to the amazing standards of a couple of his other complete game postseason starts. Which left the fate of this game to the bullpen, with the Dodgers nursing a two-run lead that came after three runs in the third inning (one-out double from Tommy Edman to get things going; RBI double from Will Smith; and then a clutch two-run single by Mookie Betts):
The Betts single silenced the Rogers Centre crowd a bit, even though the Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. But the crowd got louder as the Dodgers bullpen buckled, but did not break. Justin Wrobleski yielded a two-out double to Ernie Clement, but then got Andres Gimenez to strike out and end the seventh inning. Roki Sasaki had two on in the eighth with one out, but got Bo Bichette to foul out and then Miguel Rojas fielded a Daulton Varsho bullet to escape that jam.
Sasaki was not so lucky in the ninth, leaving men on second and third--which was fortunate in itself, thanks to late-replacement Justin Dean having the veteran-like wherewithal to raise his hands when Addison Barger's double became lodged under the outfield padding. This forced the umpires to call a dead ball and stop Myles Straw (pinch running for Alejandro Kirk, who was HBP to start the inning) from scoring the Blue Jays' second run. But Sasaki then was pulled for...potential Game 7 starter Tyler Glasnow.
Selecting Glasnow here was a ballsy move by Dave Roberts (as was getting Sasaki to pitch the eighth inning; Sasaki was clearly not sharp with a 25-pitch eighth and a shaky start to the ninth). But credit Roberts for pulling out all the stops tonight--there is no Game 7 if we don't win Game 6 anyway--and so, Glasnow entered with two RISP and none out.
Three pitches later, it was over. Glasnow had some luck to get Clement to pop out to Freddie Freeman. But then the game ended on a crazy 7-4 double play when Gimenez flied to Kike Hernandez in left, a bloop single wiht a 40% probability of being caught--and Kike Hernandez had the composure to not only catch, but then gun the ball back to the infield, where Miguel Rojas caught Barger sleeping off of second base.
Kiké even said, postgame, that he lost that fly ball in the lights:
(and how sweet is it that Kiké is wearing a rotowear Yamamoto shirt! It's here, by the way--and no, we don't get a commission for this link.)
Watching that ninth inning, all I could hear was the echoes of Joe Carter's 1993 Game 6 walkoff home run. It seemed like Toronto was just about to fulfill its destiny there in Game 6.
Instead, we have a Game 7 tomorrow. I'm still in shock having peeled myself off the floor, after watching this one.
They stop serving beers in the seventh inning at Dodger Stadium, in order to make sure that a stadium surrounded by expansive parking lots filled with a sea of cars won't have a slew of inebriated drivers behind the wheels of their vehicles.
In last night's game, however, Dodger Stadium probably could have kept serving beers for a couple more innings. We didn't go home until after Freddie Freeman won the game in the bottom of the 18th inning, in what is now tied for the longest game in World Series history.
That said, I was at Game 3 last night, and I indulged in a full-throttled, 25-ounce beer following Freddie Freeman's amazing walk-off home run. It was glorious, about as much so as a semi-cold Michelob Ultra beer could be.
And this is its own story.
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Ms. Sax and I got to the game at 4p, about an hour before first pitch, which was a controversy in itself. I would have gotten there at 2p when the gates opened; however, she thought that was nuts. She was probably right; traffic was bad, but not horrible, getting into the Stadium; and we were comfortably in our seats by 4.20p. And it was worth it to have not aggravated Ms. Sax further on this one; this was her first World Series game, and although I was familiar with the majesty of the first World Series home game pre-game show and wanted to see all of it, I didn't want her to be angry going into this one.
(Little did we know that we would be at the Stadium for eight hours!)
Along the way, we stopped at the Home Plate Bar where we splurged on overpriced cocktails: a spicy habanero mule that came smothered in tajin that got all over the place (what a mess!), as well as a spicy margarita. Both were pretty tasty though a little light on the Svedka Vodka. (We now own these two collectible plastic receptacles that I'm sure will sit unused in the back of our bar for a decade or so.)
Cocktails in hand, the pre-game ceremonies were awesome (as always). The fireworks during the starting lineup introduction. The unveiling of the huge flag on the outfield grass. The perfectly-timed flyover, even with the inclusion of the Canadian National Anthem as part of the pre-game routine.
I was happy. Ms. Sax was happy. Let the games begin.
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I got my first beer after the second inning, following the Dodgers having taken the one-run lead on Teoscar Hernandez' solo home run. When Shohei Ohtani added his own solo shot in the third, we were rocking, despite Freeman getting thrown out by a mile to end that frame.
There was an idiot in our section wearing a George Springer Toronto Blue Jays jersey, and we were riding him (and his namesake player) all game long. Boos, yells of "cheater!", and consistent mocking probably got to both of the people in the Stadium with this unfortunate sartorial choice--Springer was 0-for-3 with 2 Ks before removing himself from the game, mid-AB, in the seventh inning--but this guy was soaking up the vitriol pretty well. And then, following Alejandro Kirk's home run, the fan turned around to our section and held his finger to his mouth, telling us to be quiet. Andres Gimenez added a fourth run, and the Dodgers were suddenly down 4-2. This started the feeling of tension that would not abate for another five hours or so.
We got two runs back in the fifth inning, off a Shohei Ohtani RBI double and a Freeman RBI single, to tie the game. The Blue Jays took the lead again in the seventh inning on a Bo Bichette single to right that Teoscar Hernandez lollygagged (yet again), allowing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to score all the way from first. Tension, again.
And then Ohtani came back and powered "a center-cut fastball" (as Joe Davis put it), depositing it in the Left Field Pavilion to tie the game at five:
It should be noted that Ms. Sax has not been the biggest fan of Ohtani, mostly because he hasn't done much at the games that we happen to attend together. Tonight flipped that script. That second home run, Ms. Sax lost her mind--I think it was the first pitch of the AB--and Ms. Sax could not believe it. Ohtani reached base nine times last night, with four extra base hits (for only the second time even in a World Series game)? I think she's an Ohtani fan now.
And then, the tension began, for the next 11 innings.
So, about that beer....
------
Like any smart Dodger fan, I went back up to the concourse after the top of the seventh, knowing that they would be cutting off alcohol sales soon. After hitting the restroom (and washing my hands, thank you!), I grabbed my second Michelob Ultra can of the night.
When I got back down to our seats, Ms. Sax did not look happy.
"Did you see my text?"
I gulped. "No."
I looked at my phone. She had asked me if I could please not get another beer--a fair ask given I was driving in what I thought would be the next hour (ha!); she knows I love beer; and yeah, it's probably good overall to be drinking less of this wonderful nectar in general, given the obvious health factors.
However, it was too late. I had the beer in hand. So I said I was sorry, and I put the beer in the cupholder in front of me. And there it sat.
Now, Ms. Sax had quickly forgotten about this beer, thanks to the well-timed Ohtani home run. But she was right there with me with the tension and all the missed opportunities that played out in the innings ahead of us.
Roki Sasaki having to come in in the eighth, in a jam, to bail out Jack Dreyer's two-on, one-out situation. Tommy Edman, in one of his many defensive highlights this game (despite an error as well), nailing Isiah Kiner-Falefa at third to preserve a scoreless ninth. Ohtani IBBd in the ninth, only to be caught stealing in front of Mookie Betts (who continued his postseason malaise with a 1-for-8 showing last night, squandering multiple game-winning opportunities).
Davis Schneider thrown out at home in the tenth with a perfect throw by Edman and tag by Will Smith. Clayton Kershaw coming in with the bases loaded to relieve Emmet Sheehan (an admirable 2.2 IP with 2 Ks), to get a clutch ground out (Edman!) in the top of the 11th inning. (This was an especially gut-wrenching moment, as I was pretty certain the baseball gods were going to be cruel to Kershaw once again in the postseason, and yet we amazingly survived.)
And the Dodgers had so many chances that just didn't work out. Will Smith, Teoscar Hernandez, even Freeman himself all hit deep fly balls that died on the warning track due to the thick marine layer that you could feel like a soup, even from the stands. Said Max Muncy in The Athletic:
But as Game 3 went on, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy noticed dew on the grass and moisture on top of the dugout railing. After eight seasons with the Dodgers, Muncy knew what that meant. A marine layer had descended on Dodger Stadium, and good luck trying to hit the ball out.
“Nighttime here is really hard to hit,” Muncy said. “I’ve seen it so many times. Balls just die in the night.”
Freeman thought he possibly hit a homer in the 13th, but his 103.9-mph shot fell short of the 395-foot wall in center. He hit another ball to center 104.4 mph at a lower launch angle in the 15th, and got the same outcome.
Other Dodgers experienced similar frustration. Smith dropped his bat as if he hit a homer in the 14th, but his 101.5-mph drive got knocked down. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts thought Teoscar Hernández’s 101.4-mph blow had a chance in the 16th, but no, that one didn’t go out either.
Leading off the 18th, Freeman got another chance. And when Little left a 3-2 sinker in the heart of the plate, he connected again to center. This time, he hit the ball 107.4 mph at a 34-degree launch angle, the right combination to finally unlock a homer.
Did Freeman think it was gone?
“I was not sure,” he told me in his postgame interview on Fox. “Just because of the other couple. My swings were getting better and better as the game was going on. I’m just glad I was able to get the opportunity again.”
Throughout all these moments, I was just staring at that beer, convinced that if I took one sip, it was going to cost the Dodgers the game. Every time we escaped the top of the inning scoreless--the Dodgers relievers pitched 13.1 scoreless innings following Tyler Glasnow's start--I knew that it was the right choice to abstain. And every time we failed to capitalize on an opportunity to win the game, I stared at that can of Michelob Ultra and wondered how much my jitters would have settled with a swig.
"You ever see the sun rise at Dodger Stadium?", I asked Ms. Sax.
She did not find that very funny. She kept imploring the Dodgers to win it, screaming "I want to go home!". But I did ask (politely, albeit a bit disingenuously) if she wanted to leave early, and there was no way she was going to leave early.
"I'm too invested at this stage," she said. "Let's win this."
Will Klein, the last Dodger pitcher available, entered the game in the top of the 15th inning. This is a guy who wasn't even on any of the other postseason rosters for the Dodgers this year. But we had no other options.
And Will Klein was the man last night.
With every inning that of the four he pitched (72 pitches total, which was twice what he had ever thrown in any major league appearance of his life), more and more of the Dodgers' relief corps were up on the top step of the bullpen, cheering him on and giving him strength. Klein gave up a two-out single to Guerrero in the 15th, then had clean 16th and 17th innings (including a sweet comebacker off of Davis Schneider to end the 17th). And then in the 18th inning, Klein got out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out backup catcher Tyler Heineman, to preserve the scoreless frame.
The beer taunted me, throughout Klein's labors.
I resisted.
And then, finally, came the Freeman home run, in the bottom of the 18th inning. Freeman was the first batter of this inning. And I have to say, when he hit it, it looked like it had a shot to win the game--but so had so many of the other fly balls that game, so who knows? Only when Daulton Varsho started climbing the wall in center did I realize that this one was going to clear the fence by enough.
The Dodgers WIN.
The place went nuts. Freeman, in extras, in the World Series, again. The only man to have multiple walkoff home runs in the World Series, ever.
I hugged Ms. Sax. We slapped hands with everyone around us. We watched Freddie stomp on home plate and the team explode. Pandemonium ensued.
And then I grabbed that can of semi-cold Michelob Ultra and drank all 25 ounces in one bacchanalian quaff.
What an amazing ending.
What an amazing game.
What an amazing beer. (And who ever said that about Michelob Ultra?!)
Rogers Centre was ready to erupt again, with the Dodgers scuffling around offensively before finally breaking through on Kevin Gausman in the seventh inning. But the fact that we could keep this game close for that long was only due to the continued heroics of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who spun a 105-pitch complete game victory, limiting the Blue Jays to 4 H and 1 ER (0 BB, 8 Ks), and giving our offense the chance to take and extend the lead late in Game 2.
This is Yamamoto's second straight complete game in the postseason, which is amazing. As per Sonja Chen of MLB.com:
He is the first pitcher with back-to-back complete games in the postseason since the D-backs' Curt Schilling in 2001, and the first Dodger since Orel Hershiser in 1988. The most recent pitcher with multiple complete games in the postseason was the Giants' Madison Bumgarner in 2014.
"I think that you look at Yamamoto," manager Dave Roberts said, "it's kind of the throwback in the sense of when he starts a game, he expects to finish it. And he'll go as long as I let him."
Yamamoto not only prevented the Dodgers from needing to reach into their mixed bag of a 'pen, but he also put his team in a much more favorable position now that the Series is tied 1-1. In the history of best-of-seven postgame series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams that have taken a 2-1 lead at home in Game 3 have prevailed in the series 29 of 48 times (60.4%).
Will Smith and Max Muncy broke the 1-1 tie in the seventh with solo home runs. The Dodgers manufactured two more runs in the eighth inning, on a wild pitch by Jeff Hoffman (scoring Andy Pages from third), and then Smith scoring Shohei Ohtani from third on a force out.
Watching Fangraphs' playoff odds shift will drive one crazy, but here's the recap so far: Going into the Game 1, the Dodgers had a 66.3% chance to win the 2025 World Series. After the Game 1 loss, the Dodgers' chances dipped to 48.4%. And now with the Game 2 victory, the Dodgers are back to 63.4%.
Fox analyst and former Yankee Derek Jeter noted the Dodgers' calm in the wake of the Game 1 loss: "The Dodgers have been here, they know what it takes to win," said Jeter. "They know that losing by 10 runs is the same as losing by one run. It gives the Toronto Blue Jays a lot more confidence, and they're not a team that ever lacks confidence 'cause they know they can hit. But I expect the Dodgers to bounce back."
And bounce back they did, thanks to Yamamoto's leadership and poise.
It has taken me about 12 hours to fully process what I watched last night (on television, like most of us; though my mom was at the game!). It still does not seem real or even possible.
Coming off the commentary about a woeful postseason at the plate (batting .158 heading into this game), Shohei Ohtani not only flipped the script, he did so in historic fashion: three home runs in a postseason game, as well as 10 Ks and no ER as a starting pitcher in a postseason game.
IN THE SAME GAME.
After getting home from my friend's house where I watched the game, I watched some highlights. At 3am, I got up and watched more highlights and read some articles. And this morning, I read even more articles. And no one can put this game into words.
Perhaps the best piece I've read is Jayson Stark's recap over at The Athletic (paywall), in which he calls last night's game "the greatest game in baseball history." One of his seven points:
5. The greatest first inning ever
Who writes these scripts? Here’s how Ohtani’s first inning went on the mound:
Walked the leadoff hitter (Brice Turang) … then casually struck out the next three hitters … Jackson Chourio on a 100.3 mph scorcher, Christian Yelich on a 100.2 mph brushfire, then William Contreras flailing at a sweeper that dropped 29 inches, to go with 17 inches of vertical break.
Dodger Stadium was louder than a launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Then up stepped the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter — the starting pitcher — who did this …
So 446 feet later, this game would never be the same. And neither would the history books.
History lesson No. 1 — How many starting pitchers had ever blasted a leadoff home run before Ohtani pounded that one? Yep, that would be zero. Not in any postseason game. Not in any regular-season game. But, um, not anymore.
History lesson No. 2 — This was the 1,869th game in postseason history — which means there have been more than 16,000 innings. How many pitchers would you guess have struck out three hitters in a row and hit a home run in the same inning of a postseason game? As always, zero would be a savvy guess. (Hat tip: Elias Sports Bureau.)
[...]
But are we sure — absolutely, positively sure — that this was the greatest game ever played? Of course we are! To show you why, let’s just review a handful of the postseason contenders.
There was the Reggie Jackson Three-Homer Game (that clinched the 1978 World Series for the Yankees).
There was the David Freese Game (that brought the 2011 Cardinals back from the dead in an epic World Series Game 6).
There were the legendary World Series long balls of Kirk Gibson (1988), Joe Carter (1993), Bill Mazeroski (1960) and even Freddie Freeman (last October).
They were all fit for the story books and the history books. But I’d just like to point out one thing:
All those guys forgot to pitch in those games.
And speaking of pitchers, there was Bob Gibson’s fabled 17-strikeout game (in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series).
There was Roy Halladay’s unforgettable no-hitter in the first postseason game of his career (in 2010).
There was Don Larsen’s once-in-a-lifetime perfect game in 1956 — probably the most famous, most romanticized game ever pitched.
But now here I come again to make one small observation: All those guys forgot to hit a single home run on those days.
Really then, how can any legendary game you might want to nominate equal this one? Not to diminish anyone else’s greatest day on a baseball field, but if they didn’t fill up the K column, bash any baseballs out the stadium (and possibly the solar system) and send their teams to the World Series — all in the same game — they can’t possibly measure up. Can they?
So you know those people who like to fire off opinions that it’s time for Ohtani to give up this pitching side gig of his because it’s not worth it … it’s hurting his hitting … he’d be just as valuable doing only one thing? There might be an answer now for those people. How about this:
Any time that comes up, what do you say we just cue up the video of Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS and remind them of what is possible?
“Yeah,” Friedman said. “That’s right. We can just enter it into exhibit and rest our case.”
There were other amazing things that happened in this 2025 NLCS. Like Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto's starts, for example. But at the conclusion of this game, in talking with my friend's kid: there was really only one choice for NLCS MVP. And it happened to be awarded to a guy who was batting 2-for-11 in this series prior to last night's Game 4 (and even with this prolific 3-for-4 with 3 HR performance, his 2025 postseason batting average only lifted to .220--albeit with a .967 OPS now).
To be that amazing from both sides of the plate...as SoSG AC put it, it's like the Bo Jackson avatar back in NES Tecmo Bowl when his speed could have him run backwards and forwards all over the field, evading all the AI opponent tacklers.
Or if you played MLB The Show and spent a ton of time grinding out the best offensive player...and then did the same amount of grinding to create the best pitcher...and then merged the two together so they were 100% attribute-leveled in the same character. I don't think that is even possible in that videogame. They're going to have to change the game, just like Shohei has changed the game of baseball for us.
I mean, what's next. He hits every day. Can Ohtani pitch every day as well? Would you even put that out of the realm of possibility at this stage?
Unbelievable. We will talk about The Ohtani Game for decades to come. Let's take some more time to soak this one in before we think about the World Series.
One day more. Another day, another destiny.
This never-ending road to victory.
These Brewers try to steal a win but Glasnow and crew kept us in.
One day more.
I did not think this bullpen could.
How can I hope, when they have farted?
One day more.
Tomorrow we can sweep away!
Unless Doc's moves become outsmarted.
One day more to show the world
(Can we win the LCS?)
One more day that rests on Shohei
(Who has been bad at the plate!)
But if he can just go six
(He still has to take at bats)
And I swear we can advance!
The time is now
The day is (tomorrow)
We certainly channeled Les Miz tonight, as Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski carved up the Dodgers lineup for five relief innings. But you kinda thought that when we broke through, this game would be over.
And sure enough, it was. Tommy Edman did the honors tonight, singling in Will Smith to take a 2-1 lead in the sixth, which expanded further when Abner Uribe tried to pick off Edman at first, but threw wide, allowing Fredie Freeman to score from third.
Surprisingly, a 3-1 lead was all the Dodgers needed, with Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda, and Roki Sasaki holding down the lead from starter Tyler Glasnow (5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB and 8 Ks). Glasnow wasn't as sharp as Blake Snell or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but it was enough to put the Dodgers up 3-0 in the NLCS.
Blake Snell pitched eight innings of no-run ball yesterday? No problem, said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went the complete game, giving up only one run (off his first pitch, a leadoff HR from Jackson Chourio), with an impressive line of his own: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks.
That was Yamamoto's first career MLB CG. And a fine time to break out that performance. It was the first Dodgers postseason complete game since Jose Lima in 2004 (NLDS G3 vs. St. Louis), which was so long ago, this blog wasn't even around then!
The Dodgers have solved their bullpen woes by simply not ever going to the bullpen. Amazing.
Teoscar Hernandez had a key home run to strike back after Chourio's blast, and then Andy Pages knocked in Kiké Hernandez (who doubled) to give the Dodgers a quick 2-1 lead.
And though the Dodgers had many other chances in this game, we simply weren't great--2-for-11 with RISP, and 10 LOB--but we continued to just chip away and extend the lead with a trio of fenceposts in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. A 2-1 lead stretched to 5-1; the Brewers had to use five pitches after Freddy Peralta, two of them picking up ER on their own pitching lines, and the Dodgers got another win on the road.
Sloppiness still abounds for the Dodgers. Max Muncy (who also homered in the game--making him the Dodger with the most postseason homeruns, all-time) had his second error of the postseason. And Teoscar Hernandez and Mookie Betts both GIDPd, the latter for the second time this series.
We still aren't firing on all cylinders offensively. But luckily, our starting rotation certainly is.
For a team that couldn't win one game against Milwaukee all regular season, it's remarkable for the Dodgers to get two wins on the road to start out this series.
Credit our starting pitchers, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. If we never have to go to the bullpen, we might actually stand a chance this postseason.
And from the plate, the missed opportunities were more glaring. The Dodgers were 1-for-10 with RISP, 11 total LOB, in Game 1. And if not for Freddie Freeman's solo HR in the sixth, and then Betts' bases-loaded walk RBI in the ninth, we would have been shut out altogether by the effective patchwork of Brewers arms.
But Blake Treinen saved Roki Sasaki's lack of sharpness tonight in the bottom of the ninth, staunching the bleeding after the Brewers scored one run and had the bases loaded, by striking out Brice Turang to notch the Game 1 victory.
We won't be able to depend upon game sloppiness and a moribund offense, if we want to win this series.
Not to mention, we won't be able to expect our starters to go eight full scoreless innings and face the minimum number of batters (24), like Blake Snell did tonight. 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 Ks. Unbelievable outing by Snell, who put the Dodgers on his back for this NLCS Game 1 victory.
We stole this road win. Let's be sharper tomorrow, okay? (I'm looking at you, Teoscar.)
In a tense affair that only took 3:30 to complete but felt like an eternity, the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies on an improbable error, with Orion Kerkering panicking after a botched comebacker, ultimately throwing the ball to the wrong base and wide of catcher J.T. Realmuto, allowing Dodgers pinchrunner Hyeseong Kim to score the game-winning run.
I was at the game and would not have believed this ending despite seeing it with my own eyes.
I guess you can now spell "Phillies" with three Ls.
The truth is, either team could have easily won this series. The Dodgers stole Game 1 in Philadelphia, and then barely survived Game 2, to put Los Angeles in a pretty comfortable position. But after squandering Game 3, it seemed like this Game 4, which rested on a razor's edge, could have gone either way.
Had the Dodgers lost NLDS Game 4, I have to think we would not have been favored to win the series in a winner-take-all Game 5, given the hostility of Citizens Bank Park, not to mention our recent performance where we just squeaked to victories by our fingernails.
But key Dodgers stepped up here in Game 4 to deliver us the win, and we have to give them their rightful commendations:
Tyler Glasnow was nails. Yes, Glasnow's reputation of fragility, coupled with the fact that he only started 18 games for us this year, made me skeptical that we'd see him finish even three innings. But Glasnow's line: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB and 8 Ks--outdid Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez's numbers (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 5 Ks).
I wasn't sure why we took Glasnow out after only 83 pitches and six innings, because he was dealing, but I've since read that he was cramping. But his performance kept us in the game, for sure.
Emmet Sheehan held up. Sure, he made an error that cost us a run. But the kid has now pitched in three 2025 postseason games and is getting a little bit sharper each time. He had a strikeout in Game 1 (2.0 IP) and a strikeout in G4 (1.0 IP), and thought his ERA is still 10.80 this postseason, he's a viable middle-inning bridge, which we need. Keep up the progress, Emmet!
Roki Sasaki, of course, was the breakout story of the day. Holy shit, Batman. Given all the hype of his signing, then the clear discomfort and shaky performances early on this year, and then missing most of the year with a shoulder injury--there was absolutely no way one would think Sasaki would become the postseason closer beast that has emerged late in 2025. Since returning from injury on September 24, Sasaki pitched in only two regular-season games (one inning each; 0 ER and 4 Ks). And then, despite ratcheting up the pressure in each 2025 postseason appearance, Sasaki has shined.
But Game 4's performance, asking the rookie to go three innings of work and watching him face nine batters and sit all nine down--one would have never expected this. Sasaki just hit another level, in a role that he wasn't even expected to play. I can't think of a comparable example. It's amazing.
Clayton Kershaw wore it in Game 3, so that we could have everyone ready for Game 4. Watching Kershaw struggle on Wednesday was just gut-wrenching awful. But if he doesn't pitch those two innings, we use up some of the few options we have in that corroded bullpen (even more corroded now that Tanner Scott is out through the NLCS, not that we'd really feel comfortable using Scott these days, anyway). Hopefully, us advancing to the NLCS will give Kershaw a chance to whittle down his truly unfair 2025 postseason 18.00 ERA (not to mention, his career 4.63 postseason ERA).
The bottom of our lineup broke through. Tommy Edman, who was roping some balls earlier in the game, finally broke through with a single to left in the 11th, for his first hit of the game. Then Max Muncy clutched up and singled to center, advancing pinch-runner Kim to third, and knocking out Phillies Game-5-starter-turned-reliever Jesus Luzardo. Then Kiké Hernandez--now batting .318 with a .809 OPS this postseason, both marks ahead of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman!--worked the count to earn a walk and load the bases.
And that set up the dramatics for Andy Pages--batting a microscopic .042 with a .122 OPS this postseason--to hit the comebacker that quickly unfolded into an error, with Kim crossing the plate and the Dodgers winning the game. But all four of those players were our 6-7-8-9 in the lineup on Thursday; the heroics were all theirs.
Dave Roberts, again, made all the right calls and beat Phillies manager Rob Thomson in the chess match. Roberts gets a lot of flack, and I know I defend him more than most. But honestly, with Thomson going to closer Jhoan Duran in the seventh inning (Duran ended up blowing ths save by walking Mookie Betts with the bases loaded, which was amazing); then throwing his Game 5 starter in the tenth inning, in a do-or-die move--Thomson was trying everything to give his team the win.
But Roberts' bullpen choices, even going back to how he (ab)used Kershaw in Game 4 (see above), proved to be key. Pushing Sasaki for three frames in Game 3 was ballsy, and it worked out (and so did using Alex Vesia in the 11th, and Vesia might be gaining some girth on his trust tree branch of late). It seems like Doc has gotten a lot better over time about reading the moment and trusting his players in key situations; it may not always work out, but it seems to be successful more often than not. Now, why we are sticking with starting Pages is another issue.
And look, I hated to see it end on Orion Kerkering's shoulders like that. He just freaked out, with 50,000 fans screaming and a bobbled ball that shifted things from routine to chaos in an instant. Yeah, maybe he should have thrown to first base to get Pages. And the play at the plate might have been close. But you don't like to see a walk-off error. I feel for the guy.
Needless to say, it wasn't his fault that the Phillies are going home. Look at their big three: Trea Turner, 0-for-5 on Thursday with 2 Ks, finishing with a .235 average and .551 OPS (Turner did make a sweet defensive play in Game 4 on a grounder). Kyle Schwarber, who erupted for two home runs in Game 3, was a sad 1-for-5 in Game 4, also with 2 Ks, finishing the postseason with a .188 average (and .903 OPS). Bryce Harper, who has not fared well in Dodger Stadium in his career, went 0-for-4 and finished with a .200 average and .600 OPS.
So in NLDS Game 4, combined, Philly's big three went 1-for-14 with 4 Ks.
Now look, our big three didn't do much better: 2-for-13 with 5 Ks across Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman (Roberts wedged Teoscar Hernandez in there for Game 4, batting third but he was worse: 1-for-5 with 3 Ks on his own). Ohtani and Freeman look pretty bad right now, which some speculate is because Philadelphia's lefties are so strong. You know who else has strong lefty pitching? The Cubs (who play a winner-take-all game in Milwaukee Saturday). Gulp.
But I'll think about our adjustments that we'll need to make for the NLCS later. For now, I'm going to revel in the fact that the Dodgers are moving on, having vanquished the team that many believe would be our biggest obstacle this 2025 postseason.
After sitting through 11 innings of totally clenched ball last night, I'm still pretty nervous.
One year ago, the Dodgers' bullpen put the team on its shoulders and carried the team to a World Series Championship. This year, the Dodgers bullpen--with some of the very same arms that were incredible last year--threaten to corrode the Dodgers' 2025 chances from the inside.
Blake Treinen was almost the goat tonight, entering the game in the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead, following six scoreless innings from starter Blake Snell and two solid one-run innings from converted starter Emmet Sheehan. Treinen proceeded to shit the bed, yielding a leadoff single to Alec Bohm, then a double to JT Realmuto, and then a two-RBI double from Nick Castellanos, who wasn't even supposed to be in the lineup except Harrison Bader pulled a groin muscle. Treinen left having given up two runs and left one RISP, and not having gotten even one out.
Credit Alex Vesia--the only Dodgers bullpen arm to have recorded an out in two games of the 2025 NLDS--as well as Max Muncy and Mookie Betts for turning a Bryson Stott bunt into an out on the lead runner, Castellanos. Vesia then yielded a single and then got a force out to make it two outs, Phils at the corners.
And then Dave Roberts did the thing that he should have done earlier, and brought in Roki Sasaki (in post-game interviews, Roberts explained that he was worried about leaning on Sasaki as he had never pitched twice in three days before last night--but hey, man, it's the playoffs! Time to sack the hell up!). Sasaki barely got the third out and earned his second save of the NLDS.
(Tommy Edman almost threw the ball away, but Freddie Freeman saved Edman's bacon to close out the game. Said the TBS announcer, "Oh, my. Tommy Edman owes Freddie Freeman the fattest steak dinner he's ever had." Book Maestro's on Tuesday night, stat.)
The post-game banter on the SoSG Whats App channel went like this:
Sax: Alex Vesia is the only non-starter that has gotten outs this NLDS
Nomo: Any discussion of using Treinen again is also a non-starter.
We didn't need that heart attack Monday night, but we got it. And we also got a 2-0 NLDS lead on the road (fangraphs just jumped our odds from ~75% to >90%). I never would have expected this, not after watching Game 2 play out today. Consider ourselves very lucky.
But let's all agree, we won't use Blake Treinen again in 2025, at least not without a 15-run lead.
And I'm not even going to talk about Andy Pages, now 1-for-17 in the postseason, and swinging recklessly and early every AB.
The other Wild Card series today were pure chaos. Cleveland rose from the dead, scoring five in the bottom of the eighth inning, to tie their series 1-1. San Diego punched back in Chicago, with Manny Machado hitting a key two-run HR in the fifth, to tie their series 1-1. And then Jazz Chisholm's speed saved the Yankees' bacon, with New York downing Boston 4-3, to tie their series 1-1.
That left the Dodgers/Reds series, with the Dodgers up 1-0 in the series. It sure looked like the baseball gods wanted another WC series tie, when Teoscar Hernandez boffed a lazy fly ball in the first inning to put the Reds up 2-0 and drive Yoshinobu Yamamoto's pitch count up by almost double.
But the Dodgers battled back to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth, and then opened up for four runs in the sixth to make it 7-2 Los Angeles. In the seventh inning, Mookie Betts doubled in another run; Betts went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and was the player of the game. Betts batted .667 with a 1.700 OPS in this NL Wild Card series, which is just unreal, even with the small sample size.
Meanwhile, despite being behind from the start, Yamamoto perservered and had an outstanding outing: 113 pitches, 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB and 9 Ks. The 113 pitches was his season high.
Leave it to the Dodgers to crumble in the eighth--again!--with Emmet Sheehan getting only one out and giving up two ER (and two walks), before Alex Vesia (who was hopeless last night) came in mid-AB and got a one-pitch striekout before striking out TJ Friedl (the tying run!) to escape a bases loaded jam.
I think I heard Rick Monday say that the Dodgers used 100 pitches to get through the two eighth innings in this NLWC series. That is just not going to cut it.
Roki Sasaki had a clean ninth inning to close out the game, which is a good sign. The Dodgers had three errors in this game: Teosscar Hernandez' error, then Kiké Hernandez and Ben Rortvedt joined the sloppy parade.
That lousy bullpen and lazy fielding ain't gonna cut it in Philadelphia. We need to regroup, fast.
And I'm not even going to talk about Andy Pages being 0-for-9 with 2 Ks this series.
For the second straight outing, Blake Snell's seven solid innings (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 Ks) should be the story. But it's not, because our bullpen is a disaster--and actually let the Reds back into this game because of their absolute ineptitude.
Alex Vesia entered the game in the eighth. 22 pitches, 13 strikes. He saw three batters and got one out. Both of his runners scored.
Edgardo Henriquez came into the game, and was even worse. He saw three batters and got no outs, walking in two runs.
Jack Dreyer came into the game, and barely escaped. He saw three batters, walking in a run on his own, and got a strikeout and then a pop out to first, to escape the jam.
That's three pitchers, 59 pitches, and three runs yielded--all in one inning. This bullpen is pathetic.
During that eighth inning, we had to rush Emmet Sheehan to get warm in the bullpen, given the implosion that was happening on the field. Thankfully, we had scored 10 runs by then: three RBI from two Shohei Ohtani HRs; four RBI from two Teoscar Hernandez HR; a solo shot from Tommy Edman; and an RBI from Ben Rortvedt. (An Alex Call single with a two-run error from Noelvi Marte led to the other run, but no RBI was awarded.)
So we went to the ninth inning up 10-5, with Blake Treinen in for the ninth. He got two Ks, then gave up a single to Gavin Lux, but got Miguel Andujar for the final out. Whew.
If our starters can't go eight innings, we don't stand a chance, not with this leaky pen. We should be happy with a series-opening 10-5 win. But this isn't good.
I'm not even going to dwell on Andy Pages' 0-for-5.
Clayton Kershaw's final regular season game line: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks. Amazing.
Shohei Ohtani was also pretty damn good today, 3-for-5 with a HR and 2 runs scored.
Hyeseong Kim also had a two-run bomb to open up the scoring for the Dodgers, and Freddie Freeman added a two-run HR of his own, as the Dodgers rolled to the sweep, ending the season with five wins in a row.
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert got tagged for two runs, and was followed by Logan Evans, who gave up another run...and then Kiké Hernandez hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth to give the Dodgers the late lead.
But more amazingly, the Dodgers bullpen showed moxie that they had not shown all season. Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, and Edgardo Henriquez each had scoreless innings with three strikeouts each, setting a franchise record nine consecutive strikeouts. Amazing.
Tomorrow, we find out who our Wild Card opponent will be, as all MLB games start at the same time. Either a win by the Reds, or a loss by the Mets, sends Cincinnati to Los Angeles for Game 1 on Tuesday.
The Dodgers will publicly tell you they really don’t care who they’re facing, but if they had their druthers, surely they would prefer the Mets.
This is a team that not only has self-destructed, its pitching staff is also in tatters. The Mets had to rely on three rookies who were called up to make their major-league debuts this past month, and even if they happen to survive to Sunday, they have no idea who would even pitch Game 162, let alone in a playoff series.
The Reds, meanwhile, led by future Hall of Fame manager Terry Francona, may have the fourth-worst offense in the National League – scoring three or fewer runs in their last five games – but they have an awfully talented starting rotation. If they make it, they are lined up to have ace Hunter Greene (7-4, 2.76 ERA) pitch in Game 1, Brady Singer (14-11, 3.95 ERA) in Game 2 and Nick Lodolo (9-8, 3.30 ERA) for a potential Game 3.
“I don’t think anyone would want to play us if we sneak in there, not with our pitching," Lux told USA TODAY Sports last month. “We’re a young team with nothing to lose. We can match up with anyone."
I don't know, man. I think I would prefer to see the Reds. But let's see how this weekend plays out.
The Dodgers earned their 12th National League West Division title and their 13th National League Postseason berth in 13 years. That's only one appearance short of the record, held by the Atlanta Braves from 1991 to 2005 (with 1994 having no postseason). The New York Yankees also have 13 consecutive playoff seasons, frm 1995-2007.
The Dodgers last missed the postseason in 2012. In 2013, the Dodgers beat the Braves in the NLDS before losing to the Cardinals (who lost to the Red Sox in the World Series). And the playoff run started from there:
2013: NLDS win over Braves; NLCS loss to Cardinals
2014: NLDS loss to the Cardinals
2015: NLDS loss to the Mets
2016: NLDS win over the Nationals; NLCS loss to the Cubs
2017: NLDS win over the Diamondbacks; NLCS win over the Cubs; stolen World Series
2018: NLDS win over the Braves; NLCS win over the Brewers; World Series loss to the Red Sox
2019: NLDS loss to the Nationals
2020: NLWC win over the Brewers; NLDS win over the Padres; NLCS win over the Braves; World Series win over the Rays
2021: NLWC win over the Cardinals; NLDS win over the Giants; NLCS loss to the Braves
2022: NLDS loss to the Padres
2023: NLDS loss to the Diamondbacks
2024: NLDS win over the Padres; NLCS win over the Mets; World Series win over the Yankees.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto had six scoreless innings (4 H, 2 BB and 7 Ks); Tanner Scott had an inning where he did not implode; Anthony Banda cleaned up the ninth.
Shohei Ohtani had his 54th home run in the fourth inning; Freddie Freeman had two HR, and Andy Pages added a homer to boot. Even Kiké Hernandez had two hits.
And now, we wait to see who our Wild Card round opponent will be.
Here's to a happy flight to Seattle for the final series of the season! Congratulations, 2025 Dodgers!
No one will remember Blake Snell's six innings of one-run ball tonight. And they may not even remember scoreless frames from two Dodger starters, Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw, to contribute to the cause.
But after Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez' ineptitude in the eighth inning to cede the 4-1 lead and let the Snakes tie the game; and after pinch runner Hyeseong Kim hesitates at second and is thrown out at the plate in the top of the 10th inning--the Dodgers had some unlikely solid performances from the bullpen: Blake Treinen, who came in with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the 10th, and got the final out; and Justin Wrobleski, who pitched a scoreless 11th to earn the victory.
Also, Tommy Edman had a two-out, two-strike single to left-center which scored Freddie Freeman from third in the top of the 11th, scoring the game's winning run. Edman also had a solid play in the field to end the ninth inning for Kershaw.
No Tanner Scott tonight, so we actually won this game. Magic number is at 1.
And big credit to SportsNet LA's Jessica Mendoza for noticing Kim's hesitation at second immediately and calling it out. She did great on color commentary tonight and I love to hear her insight in the booth.
The Dodgers have now won four games in a row, following Wednesday's victory over Colorado, extending their NL West divisional lead back to three games over the Padres, and pundits are already coronating the Dodgers after one full rotation of solid starts:
[Wednesday Dodgers starter Blake] Snell put the finishing touches on a stellar turn through the Dodgers' rotation. Here's how the others fared leading up to Wednesday:
Through Tuesday, the Rockies have been collectively outscored by their opponents, 922-545. Their overall run differential of minus-377 would be the worst ever in the modern era, which began in 1901.
Barring a miraculous turnaround, they will shatter the current mark that has stood for more than nine decades: minus-349, a badge of ignominy set by the Boston Red Sox in 1932.
And Friday? That was another walkoff victory for the Orioles, when Samuel Basallo took Tanner Scott yard to win the game. Scott also came in for Monday's game and gave up a leadoff double to Ryan Ritter of the Rockies, nursing a 3-1 lead, and barely escaped that one, as well.
And even last night, Michael Kopech walked the bases loaded in the seventh, causing the recently-activated Alex Vesia to come in to escape the jam, before Mookie Betts and company opened up the five-run eighth inning.
Our starters, many of whom were injured for some if not all of the year, remain untested. Our bullpen has a trust tree that is more like a full-but-floppy-branched balsam fir rather than a sturdy Douglas fir.
Our lineup, buoyed by the resurgent Mookie Betts (and to a lesser extent, Miguel Rojas), seems to be getting hot, especially with Teoscar Hernandez finally showing signs of life? But Andy Pages and Kiké Hernandez are still swinging after stupid pitches; Max Muncy and Tommy Edman are just back from extended IL stints; and even Freddie Freeman seems like he has cooled off (not to mention, Will Smith is struggling with a hand bruise).
The next ten games include seven against the Giants, fighting for their playoff lives and only two games behind the Mets for the last wild-card spot; and the Phillies, who have a four-game advantage on us for the #2 playoff spot and a first-round bye.
This Dodgers team has some bright spots. But they are still nothing like the dominant juggernaut predicted in the beginning of the season. So let's not let a sweep fo the majors' worst team get us too excited. Really.
Two runs was the difference in this game, so it's fitting that we call out Teoscar Hernandez for letting this two-run double by Tommy Pham ruin the Dodgers' hopes at victory Tuesday (not to mention, probably rattle Clayton Kershaw, who settled back into a groove after that four-run first inning). Watching Hernandez in right field has been awful all season, but on this one he looked like an old man, getting to the ball late with a weak slide and then letting the ball roll past him into the corner, allowing two Pirates to score.
Teoscar Hernandez' Fielding Run Value, according to Baseball Savant, is -9 RPG (3rd percentile). That isn't far off from where he was in 2024, but it's a far cry from his above-average performance in 2023. At this stage of the season, though, we just can't afford to have this defensive liability bumbling around in right.
The misadventures in right field remind me a lot of watching the right-field escapades of Juan Soto, to whom the Mets are tethered for the next 15 years. Soto is also an awful fielder (as we saw plainly in the 2024 World Series). However, Soto has a 161 OPS+, driving his WAR to 5.5. Hernandez has a 102 OPS+, which is right at league average, and his WAR is 0.9. In 2025, Hernandez is only batting .247 (he batted .272 last year, and had a 135 OPS+).
All the sunflower seed showers in the world, as well as Hernandez' radiant smile and value-additive cheerleading, aren't going to make his play in right field any prettier.
The logical solution would be to move Teoscar back to left field, where he might have a chance at throwing runners out at third. We could either move Andy Pages over to right once Tommy Edman returns; or finally succumb to bringing back Mookie Betts to right field and slot Hyeseong Kim and the resurgent Miguel Rojas in the infield.
That of course leaves no place for Michael Conforto, whose own year-long experiment has been another unmitigated disaster. Conforto has a -0.6 WAR this season and a 75 OPS+, and yet we keep trotting him out there in the hopes that something might change? It's ridiculous.
Conforto was 0-for-3 in yesterday's loss. You can't spell C0nf0rt0 without three 0s.
We've got to stop both these players and move them from their current roles, before they doom our postseason chances.
3/27 vs. AZ (W, 6-4): AC
4/11 vs. TEX (W, 8-7): Sax
5/11 vs. SF (L, 3-9): Sax
5/25 vs. COL (W, 5-3): Sax
6/11 @ PIT (W, 8-6): Sax
6/15 vs. TB (W, 4-3): Nomo
7/4 vs. SD (W, 3-0): Orel, Sax
