2025 NL Division Series Game 4 Rally Towel: LET’S DO THIS!!!

I have been here since 1p.

I am so nervous!

2025 NLDS Game 4 Thread: Oct 9 vs. Phillies, 3p

Awakening the sleeping giant.

Tyler Glasnow (4-3, 3.19) vs. Cristopher Sanchez (13-5, 2.50).

So many things went wrong for the Dodgers last night, in Game 3. Andy Pages' moribund play both at the plate and in the field. Having to leave Clayton Kershaw out there when he clearly had trouble finding the strike zone. Watching Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman have a third straight game without much pop in the bats.

And worst of all, we've awakened Kyle Schwarber, not to mention given signs of life to Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. This is not good.

Meanwhile, we've got this guy starting NLDS Game 4, after watching him struggle to get through five outs back in Game 1. (And remember, Sanchez notched eight strikeouts against us in Game 1, basically shutting us down until the sixth inning.)

So I'm throwing a hail mary here and I'm going to 2025 NLDS Game 4. It's do or die. I have a bad feeling that I know the outcome already, though.

2025 NL Division Series Game 3 Rally Towel: LET'S DO THIS!

I'm late posting this. But we need to rally, down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

Let's go, Dodgers!

2025 NLDS Game 3 Thread: Oct 8 vs. Phillies, 6p

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.49) vs. Aaron Nola (5-10, 6.01).

Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets his second start of the postseason, following a clinching NLWC Game 2 in which he went 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER (thanks, Teoscar!) 2 BB and 9 Ks, to earn the victory. We've got a chance for Yamamoto to clinch another series tonight.

Aaron Nola gets the nod over Ranger Suarez, which is a little bit of a surprise:

Though Nola is the longest-tenured Phillie and certainly has a proven track record, he went just 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 17 starts this season. He missed three months from mid-May to mid-August due to a sprained right ankle and a stress fracture in one of his ribs.

I'm not sleeping on this one, though. Nola did see the Dodgers on April 5, 2025, in a losing effort (Dodgers won 3-1; Nola went 6.0 IP and gave up all three ER). He is 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 12 starts against the Dodgers, lifetime.

But Nola may just be a feint anyway, with Suarez rarin' to go. From the same mlb.com piece:

Thomson will undoubtedly have a quick hook with the Phillies’ season on the line, but even if Nola is pitching well, it’s possible he’s asked only to get through the Dodgers’ lineup one time.

Despite his struggles this season, it’s worth noting that Nola has typically navigated the opposing lineup pretty well the first time through. Opponents hit just .252 with a .693 OPS against Nola when facing him for the first time. That OPS jumped to .797 the second time through -- and 1.005 the third time.

Suarez also pitched three innings of 3 ER ball against us, on September 15, 2025, in a game the Dodgers lost 6-5 in 10 innings. He is 3-2 with a 3.64 ERA against the Dodgers across eight starts. But he pitches well in Dodger Stadium, which is one of his top-five tOPS+ stadium across his career (by comparison, Nola has a 95 tOPS+ at Dodger Stadium).

Coming home gives the Dodgers a chance to smoothen out some of those very rough fielding edges that we've seen for most of this postseason (I'm looking at you, Teoscar, Max, and Tommy). Not to mention, it would be nice to see Andy Pages have a good AB for a change.

Let's go, Dodgers!

2025 NLDS Game 2 Analysis: Philadelphia, Behind The Wheel

It seems that all the coverage about the Dodgers' NLDS Game 2 victory centers around the "wheel play" that the Dodgers successfully pulled off in the ninth inning, to squash the Phillies' threat, regain a bit of momentum, and maintain the Dodgers' narrow 4-3 lead.

From ESPN:

The key play of the game, however, came earlier in the bottom of the ninth, after the Phillies had scored two runs on Nick Castellanos' half-swing bloop double to shallow left field to make it 4-3 with nobody out -- with Castellanos somehow avoiding a tag at second base from Edman, a call confirmed upon replay review. With Alex Vesia entering to face Bryson Stott and the Dodgers expecting a bunt, the Dodgers huddled up and called for the wheel play -- when the third baseman charges hard with the shortstop sprinting to cover third base, a play third baseman Max Muncy said the Dodgers don't even practice in spring training.

"Immediately, Mookie was like, 'Hey, we need to be doing this,'" Muncy said. "It speaks to his baseball IQ and his intuition in that situation. We were all thinking it, but Mookie was definitely the one that brought it up and said we need to do this."

Betts, who just finished his full season at shortstop, explained his thinking. "It's just another learned behavior," he said. "I've got to give that credit to Miggy Rojas. I think we did it earlier in the year in Anaheim, and I remember asking him, 'When's a good time to do it?' He said, 'In a do-or-die situation,' and he and Woody (Dodgers coach Chris Woodward) have really helped me a lot just learning situations."

Manager Dave Roberts gave the go-ahead. If the Dodgers failed, it would put runners on first and third with nobody out.

"I think it just speaks to the experience that a lot of us have been in a lot of these big games before and we have a lot of experience doing these types of things," Muncy said. "Doc trusts us as much as we trust Doc and it's not an easy thing to gain, and so that's why in that moment, Doc heard us talking and right away he was on board with it."

The first pitch to Stott was a slider out of the zone. In a sacrifice situation, the batter's job with a runner on second is to push the ball down the third-base line. With Muncy charging and Betts hustling to third, they were worried they might have blown their cover.

"When it comes to the wheel play as a third baseman, your first job it obviously to field the ball, and then you've got to make a good throw," Muncy said. "But the one thing no one talks about is you got to make sure the guy's there to catch the throw."

Betts got there.

"God blessed me with some athleticism, so I was able to just kind of put in on display there," Betts said.

"It's tag play, too," Woodward explained. "Running the wheel on a force out is a lot easier because the third baseman just has to catch it. But if you have a tag him, it presents a more difficult play. For Muncy to field it, know right away, make a good throw. Mookie hung in there. That was the play of the game."

Get this: The Dodgers didn't have a 5-6 putout all season, the only team in the majors without one, according to ESPN Research.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson went on to discuss the key element to this episode: how Betts' deception made this defensive play even viable in the first place:

In an era with few sacrifice bunts, the attempt itself was debatable strategy. Indeed, the Phillies had just 16 sacrifice bunts all season. Manager Rob Thomson explained the decision: "Just left on left," he said, referring to Stott against Vesia. "Trying to tie the score. I liked where our bullpen was at, compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home."

He praised the Dodgers' execution.

"Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play. We teach our guys that if you see wheel, just pull it back and slash because you've got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up."

Here's the LAT's coverage, with Muncy and Betts interviewed in the embedded video:

Awesome stuff. Credit Mookie Betts' IQ and athleticism, but also credit Max Muncy--not always the smoothest at third base--for making a perfect throw.

The Dodgers are up 2-0 in the NLDS, with Game 3 at home Wednesday.

POSTSCRIPT 10/7 8.29a: Fabian Ardaya also had a great breakdown of the wheel play in The Athletic:

All the momentum they’d taken from the Philadelphia Phillies was 180 feet away, with the potential tying run at second base with no one out. That’s when the manager looked at his players during the pitching change. “You guys figure it out,” Roberts said.

Mookie Betts made a suggestion. The six-time Gold Glove-winning right fielder, making just his fourth career postseason start at shortstop, did not think. He just spoke.

Betts’ comfort at his new position allowed him to propose something the Dodgers had hardly considered since spring training, much less practiced or executed: the wheel play. It’s a scheme that aggressively shifts their defenders around in the middle of a bunt attempt to try to get the lead runner.

It worked. [...]

They’d escaped a disaster because of the trust Roberts put in Betts, the former MVP who made a seemingly impossible transition to shortstop at age 32.

“Somebody’s gotta do it,” Betts said. “I figured if there was ever a good time to make a decision and roll with it, that was the time.”

The Dodgers got that precious last out just as their makeshift bullpen needed it, and it took a strategy they hardly ever attempt.

“For me, that was our only chance, really, to win that game in that moment,” Roberts said.

POSTSCRIPT 10/8 7.54a: I heard Harold Reynolds' breakdown of this play on MLB Radio yesterday, but watching this highlight on television was amazing. Well done, Harold!

2025 NLDS Game 2 Post-Game Thread: Snell, Sasaki Overcome Phillies and Dodgers Bullpen, To Go Up 2-0

DODGERS 4, PHILLIES 3

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.

2025 NLDS Game 2 Thread: Oct 6 @ Phillies, 3p

Blake Snell (5-4, 2.35) vs. Jesus Luzardo (15-7, 3.92).

Fellow SoSGers, I confess that I missed NLDS Game 1.

Car trouble and an overly-ambitious schedule during the day thwarted my efforts to actually watch Game 1. I was stuck on the side of a road waiting for a tow truck to come. And it was difficult, because all I had was radio. Though to be honest, I don't think I could have had the emotional strength to make it through a live viewing of that game.

I would have fallen into despair when Shohei Ohtani got rattled in the second inning, understandbly so while watching Teoscar Hernandez run practice jog routes out in right field rather than bend down and try and stop a ball.

I would have screamed at the television watching Andy Pages flail at the plate for another game, looking totally overmatched.

I would have chewed through t-shirt watching Max Muncy make another fielding error at third base.

And I would have had nothing left in the tank to cheer when the Dodgers showed a level of mettle I did not know or even believe that they had, ultimately prevailing in Game 1, 5-3.

Here's Fangraphs' win probability. That is nuts.

Ohtani not only settled down after that second inning, he didn't allow another run in four more innings of work, shutting the Phillies down (especially their top three formidable bats). And that wasn't easy, given how Philadelphia fans were jeering him all game. Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh that was totally unlikely given his play this year, but maybe not so given his postseason resume.

Speaking of postseason resumes, Kiké Hernandez, a woeful .203 batter in the 2025 season, is up to his same clutch self: batting .417 with a 1.000 OPS this postseason. His two-RBI double in the sixth put us on the board and created some tension in a game where the Phillies seemed to be rolling. It makes no sense that Kiké is so clutch in October, but so it happens every year.

And even Andy Pages scored a run and had a hit in this one (he's now 1-for-13 in this postseason).

During yesterday's off-day, I watched the condensed game highlights of Game 1, and Rick Monday (on his radio call) was spot-on--Citizens Bank Park turned as silent as a library after Teo's HR. It was amazing.

From the LA Times, "When you can hear a pin drop in the stadium, that’s the ultimate feeling in baseball,” Max Muncy said of the home run. “I felt like the people in the upper deck could hear us cheering in the dugout.”

And so today, we try to steal another game from the Phillies in NLDS Game 2, a game I do plan to watch. Blake Snell was great in 2025 NLWC Game 1 for us, and given Dave Roberts' new "all-starters, all the time" strategic approach and/or necessity (Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki got 26 of the 27 outs in Game 1), we again will need Snell to go long.

I've mocked Snellzilla for most of this year. It would be great to see him breathe fire in Game 2.

2025 NLDS Game 1 Thread: Oct 4 @ Phillies, 3.30p

Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 2.87) vs. Cristopher Sánchez (13-5, 2.50).

In the marquee game of the day--pushed later in the evening (screwing the Cubs @ Brewers!), just to further elevate the contest--the Dodgers are giving what the worldwide MLB audience wants to see: Shohei Ohtani's first postseason pitching start.

Holy shit, this is huge.

But here's the problem (which I'm sure the Phillies are already considering): Ohtani hasn't gone beyond six innings all year. In fact, the last time he pitched into the seventh inning was July 27, 2023 (a complete game win over Detroit, when Ohtani was with the Angels). And we all know what happened after that, with regards to his injury. The bubblewrap has to be on Ohtani for this start (which may not be such a bad idea when he's pitching, lest a comebacker go up the middle).

And then that means we have to deploy the bullpen, upon which the Phillies are gonna feast.

So yeah, I'm psyched for the Ohtani start. I'm just dreading what comes next.

Dodgers Lead League in 2025...Pitch Clock Violations

On the eve of the epic 2025 NLDS against Philadelphia, let's not lose sight of the fact that the carefully-constructed team from Andrew Friedman and company achieved the pinnacle of the sport, in pitch clock violations:

The Los Angeles Dodgers topped the major leagues with 26 pitch clock violations this season, while the Tampa Bay Rays' Shane Baz led pitchers and the Athletics' Lawrence Butler was first among batters as the overall big league total dropped substantially once again.

Los Angeles committed one more violation than the New York Mets, according to Major League Baseball's figures. The Colorado Rockies had 23, and the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Nationals had 22 each.

The Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals tied for the fewest infractions with three apiece.

There were 465 violations in the third year of the pitch clock, down from 602 last year and 1,048 in 2023. Pitchers committed 369 violations, along with 91 by batters and five by catchers.

Great work by the Dodgers to claim the top spot, after being tied for 10th last year.

Scoreboard Watching: NLWC Chaos (Oct 2, 2025)

Thankfully, the Dodgers can launder their beer-soaked shirts today, before flying on a plane to Philadelphia for the NLDS. But the six other teams in Wild Card games are still alive, so we can keep tabs on these while we wait for the dryer cycle to finish:

• Tigers at Guardians, 12n. Harvard-Westlake's own Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64), who helped the Dodgers hoist their 2024 World Series Championship trophy, now tries to stop Detroit's late-season collapse. He faces off against the resurgent Guardians' Slade Cecconi (7-7, 4.30), who has the same first name as Deathstroke.
• Padres at Cubs, 2p. 2017 Dodger Yu Darvish (5-5, 5.38) tries to lead the upstart Padres, the four seed, against the #5 seed Cubs' Jameson Taillon (11-7, 3.68). The Padres' bullpen has been formidable in Games 1 and 2, but both Mason Miller and Adreian Morejon have thrown a lot of pitches in both games (Robert Suarez was only used in Game 2). The Cubs had three runs Tuesday and were shut out yesterday (the only team to be shutout so far this postseason); do they have enough offense to fromage the Friars?
• Red Sox @ Yankees, 5p. Better get up (Connelly) Early (1-2, 2.33), who had only four career starts and 19.1 IP this season (his MLB debut), yet takes the mound against the Yankees' Cam Schlittler (4-3, 2.96). Not exactly the big-name matchup we'd expect in a winner-take-all game between storied rivals, but here we go anyway. There's been a lot of talk about Alex Cora's overuse of the bullpen yesterday, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be right with Cora in the dissection about his in-game decisions, if the Yank-Mes lose tonight.

Post-2025 NLWC Game 2 Thread: Dodgers Advance to NLDS @ Philadelphia

Here's what Dodger pitchers see for the strike zone in the eighth inning.

DODGERS 8, REDS 4
DODGERS WIN NLWC 2-0

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.

2025 NL Wild Card Game 2 Rally Towel: LET'S DO THIS!

2025 NL Wild Card Game 2 Thread: Oct 1 vs. Reds, 6p

I love how the Dodger Stadium field is beautified in the postseason.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Zack Littell.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a 5.0 WAR this season (second highest on the team, only to Shohei Ohtani). Yamamoto pitched against Cincinnati on July 28, going 7.0 IP (4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 9 Ks), earning his ninth victory of the season.

Zack Littell (3.2 WAR) was picked by the Reds at this year's trade deadline from the Rays. He went 2-0 with the Reds across 10 starts, sporting a 4.39 ERA which was a bit worse than his 3.58 ERA with Tampa Bay (where he went 8-8). He did not face the Dodgers this season.

I've got mixed feelings about last night's victory, given it showed our clear strengths (starting pitching and the home run firepower) as well as our weaknesses (most of the bullpen). Let's get the win today so we can wrap this up; I'd realy hate for a Game 3 to happen.

Random MLB Wild Card Series Statistics

I was curious this morning as to what happens to Wild Card series and its participating teams after Game 1. Since the MLB Wild Card expanded to its current format in 2022, the team that wins Game 1 has won the series 100% of the time (12 out of 12 possible outcomes).

The Wild Card series has gone to a decisive third game only twice (both in the NLWC), and in both cases, the team that won Game 1 prevailed.

Five out of the six Wild Card series involving a #6 seeded team have been decided in a two-game sweep. The #6 team has won four of the #6 - #3 series, though in the National League Wild Card series, the #6 seed has advanced (over the worst divisional winner and #3 seed) all three times.

Yikes.

Like the Dodgers in their 10-5 win yesterday, only one other team has scored 10 runs in a Wild Card game (current format): the Seattle Mariners, in a 10-9 victory over Toronto in G2 of the 2022 ALWC. Seattle advanced based on that game.

Let's go, Dodgers!

Post-2025 NLWC Game 1 Thread: The Leakiest of Pens

2025 NLWC GAME 1: DODGERS 10, REDS 5

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.

2025 NL Wild Card Game 1 Rally Towel: LET'S DO THIS!

This was given away at the ballpark for today's Game 1.

Apparently it isn't very absorbent. So there will be NO CRYING today! (I'm looking at you, Blake Snell!)

2025 NL Wild Card Game 1 Thread: Sept 30 vs. Reds, 6p

Blake Snell vs. Hunter Greene.

The Reds may have backed into the playoffs with a loss in their final game and a 83-79 record (10 games worse than the Dodgers), but it doesn't matter now--they're on level ground with the winners of the NL West. And since anything can happen in the playoffs--the Reds have a 31.4% chance of advancing, according to Fangraphs--I'm already pretty nervous (as usual).

The fact that we're starting Blake Snell for Game 1 doesn't settle my stomach much, either. Snell, who missed almost all of the first four months of the season with assorted boo boos, did not pitch against Cincinnati this year.

Notre Dame Sherman Oaks graduate Hunter Greene pitched one game against the Dodgers this season, on August 25, 2025. He took the loss having pitched 5.0 innings: 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 HR (both by Andy Pages), 2 BB and 3 Ks. Michael Conforto, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith all struck out against Greene, but Conforto and Freeman also had doubles against Greene before he exited, and Smith's walk against Greene in the bottom of the sixth (with none out and one on) chased Greene from the game.

Pages knocked in five runs in that game. I assume he will be in the starting lineup today.

And of course, this game marks another return to Dodger Stadium for former Dodger and 2024 World Series Champion, Gavin Lux. Lux, whose -0.2 WAR paled in comparison to (his replacement) Hyeseong Kim's 1.6 WAR, still had a respectable year, with a 97 OPS+ of .724 (relative to Kim's OPS .699 / OPS+ 95). So maybe trading Lux was a wash? He still has a mean ultimate frisbee forehand.

But the one to watch in Cincinnati's lineup has to be Elly De La Cruz, who played in every game for the Reds this year, batting .264 with a .777 OPS (109 OPS+, to lead the team). He mashes (a team-leading 22 HR), but also strikes out a lot (a team leading 181 Ks--which to be fair is six fewer than Shohei Ohtani). We need to keep him off the basepaths this series, or there will be no more plane rides for us this year.

(Lux photo: John Hefti-Imagn Images, from Sports Illustrated)

UPDATE 9.30 2p: Will Smith makes the NL Wild Card roster. Justin Dean grabs an outfielder spot, alng with Alex Call; Michael Conforto does not make the cut. Also, on the pitching side, Roki Sasaki makes the roster; Clayton Kershaw, who pitched the last game of the regular season, will not be on the NLWC squad (as has been widely reported for days now).

Kiké Hernandez Is Ready For October Baseball

Yeah, he's ready.

Post-Game 162 Thread: Kershaw Gets Final Win; Reds Take Back Door Into Playoffs

DODGERS 6, MARINERS 1

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.

So now, we play Cincinnati in the NL Wild Card, who lost to the Brewers 4-2, but backed into the playoffs when the Mets were blanked in Miami, 4-0.

Game 1 is Tuesday at 6p. I'm not sleeping on the Reds. Hoo boy!

Game 162 Thread: Sept 28 @ Mariners, 12.10p

It's this man's final regular season start.

Clayton Kershaw (10-2, 3.52) vs. Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.53).

This blog has been around since 2006, and for almost the entirety of this 20-year run, we've had one constant: Clayton Kershaw (who debuted with the Dodgers in 2008).

It will be very weird to think of the Dodgers without Clayton Kershaw on the roster.

So let's celebrate his last regular-season start today, and honor the class act that is Clayton Kershaw.

UPDATE 9.49a: Okay, I can't help myself. We have to keep half an eye on the out of town scoreboard today, to see who our opponent will be for the National League Wild Card series.

In Milwaukee, Cincinnati's Brady Singer (14-11, 3.95) goes up against Freddy Peralta (17-6, 2.68), who has been talked about for the National League Cy Young Award. That's a heck of an opponent for the Reds, but if they win, they advance to the playoffs.

In Miami, the Mets' Sean Manaea (2-4, 5.80) squares off against Edward Cabrera (7-7, 3.66). If the Mets lose, the Reds advance to the playoffs. The only combination of outcomes that works for the Mets is a Mets victory AND a Reds loss.

All MLB games start at the same time today.

If there's another silver lining, it's that both the Reds and Mets will have to throw their best (remaining) arm and also play their full lineup, whereas the Dodgers can let Kershaw go a minimum number of innings (Tyler Glasnow only had three innings in his start yesterday), and also rest the batters (apparently, there's a Monday workout back in Los Angeles).