Photo Credit: Los Angeles Dodgers
It’s nice to stop for a moment to recognize that the Dodgers just completed an improbable comeback and won three consecutive elimination games to advance to their third World Series in four years. In a pure baseball sense, this was the most adversity this Dodgers team had faced all season and they proved why they are the best team, at least in the National League.
In three out of the first four games in the NLCS (aside from the 15-run outburst in Game Three), the Dodgers flat-out didn’t pitch well and Dave Roberts didn’t manage well. The offense struggled mightily over some stretches, but in order for them to strike, the games needed to be closer than they were. During the last three games, they pitched much better, Roberts managed to near perfection and both of those things helped keep the games close and the offense was able to come through when it mattered most.
You also cannot talk about the success of the Dodgers over the final three games without mentioning the game-saving defense of Mookie Betts and the atrocious base-running displayed by the Atlanta Braves.
Despite the Dodgers nearly sending me to an early grave, this was as exciting of a series as it gets. There were four monumental moments in Game Seven that most likely decided the outcome. Let’s take a deep dive, shall we?
Dustin May Only Gives Up One Run
Dustin May has been used in a number of roles this postseason and the 23-year-old has pitched quite well overall. I really hope the next time they need him to start a Game Seven, or any elimination game, they are able to tell him a little sooner than right before the game, but sometimes that’s just how it works out.
In the top of the first inning, May didn’t look sharp. He walked the first two batters on eight consecutive balls. The next hitter was Marcell Ozuna who singled sharply into left field, scoring the Braves’ first run. With first and second and nobody out, it looked like a disaster was brewing, but May gained his composure and was able to get Travis d’Arnaud to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. A pitcher’s best friend and rally killer. Then, with a runner at third and two outs, May overpowered Ozzie Albies with a 100-mph fastball to strike him out to end the inning.
As the saying goes, it’s not how you start, but how you finish, and May finished very strong. If that inning were to have gotten out of hand, that would’ve put the Dodgers in a major hole – very difficult to climb out of. Game Seven of the 2017 World Series is still a fresh wound for Dodger fans so the ability for May to stifle that rally last night was a big moment early in the ballgame.
Justin Turn(er)s Almost Impossible Double Play
After a clutch two-out, two-RBI single by Will Smith in the bottom of the third to tie the game at two, Tony Gonsolin went out for his third inning of relief in the top of the fourth inning. That’s when the walls almost caved-in on the Dodgers again. Gonsolin started off by walking the first two batters, but quickly got ahead of Austin Riley 0-and-2. Gonsolin threw a belt-high splitter over the plate that Riley deposited back up the middle for a base hit and Atlanta had the lead again 3-to-2.
This was actually my only gripe with Dave Roberts in this game. Gonsolin clearly didn’t have his best stuff and I was screaming at the television to take him out after walking the first two hitters, but Roberts couldn’t hear me. Gonsolin was eventually removed after Riley singled and in came Blake Treinen. I liked this move a lot. Even though Treinen is the most-used reliever in the bullpen, he is one of the Dodgers’ best and it was vital to keep the deficit to one run in that spot.
Unfortunately, Treinen put himself in an even tougher predicament by throwing a wild pitch to allow the runners to advance to second and third with nobody out. But, then the baseball gods smiled down on the Dodgers and gifted them something none of us knew was even possible at the time. Nick Markakis hit a sharp grounder to Justin Turner at third. For some reason, Dansby Swanson was going on contact (never understood the “contact play”) and Turner quickly threw a strike to Will Smith at home plate. Swanson was caught in a pickle, Smith ran Swanson back toward third and threw the ball to Turner. Turner turned on the jets, chased Swanson down and made a full-extension dive to tag him out.
Riley was the runner originally at second base, but couldn’t make up his mind wether he wanted to go back to second or advance to third. By the time he decided to go to third, it was too late. After making the tag on Swanson, in one motion Turner spun around, got to one knee and threw a dart to Corey Seager covering third to nab Riley for the second out. If you were scoring at home that was a 5-2-5-6 double play.
ICYMI! pic.twitter.com/zn3x9ot10I
— Dodgers-LowDown (@DodgersLowDown) October 19, 2020
Treinen got Cristian Pache to groundout to Seager to end the inning and crush Atlanta’s spirit. A lot of folks are crediting this as the play of the game and I tend to agree. The Braves had already re-taken the lead and had second and third with nobody out. To go from that to a man on first with two outs and no runs across is as demoralizing for the Braves as it is uplifting for the Dodgers. Yes, it was atrocious base running by Atlanta, but you also can’t knock the all-out effort from Turner to get the job done.
Here’s another old saying for you: pitching and defense wins championships.
Another Game, Another Spectacular Catch By Mookie Betts
For the third night in a row, Mookie Betts hurt the Braves far more with his glove than with his bat. As someone mentioned on Twitter last night: imagine having Betts on your team and not wanting him anymore? (That, of course, is referring to the head-scratching trade the Boston Red Sox made with the Dodgers in the offseason).
At any rate, he’s ours and we love him in Dodger blue. With the Braves still leading 3-2, and Treinen back out there for his second inning in the fifth, Freddie Freeman hit a towering drive to right field. Betts was tracking the ball the whole way, he timed his jump perfectly and robbed Freeman of a home run. Betts is simply such a pleasure to watch and if they handed out MVP trophies in the NLCS based solely on defense, he would be the unanimous winner.
Just incredible! And we as Dodger fans get to see him play for our favorite team for many many years. pic.twitter.com/II7aeeLppf
— Dodgers-LowDown (@DodgersLowDown) October 19, 2020
What the Dodgers discovered in the NLCS was that if they could keep the game as close as possible, their offense would punch through eventually. If you look back at nearly every game in this series that’s exactly what happened. Game 2 was a prime example of this. The offense was dead for the first six innings, but came alive in the seventh and ninth innings to score a total of seven runs. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn’t keep things close enough and they lost by a run.
What they also discovered was that great defense leads to offense. Because Betts was able to keep the deficit right where it was, it gave the offense a chance to come back. A pinch-hit home run by Kiké Hernandez in the sixth followed by a Cody Bellinger bomb in the seventh and the Dodgers had a 4-3 lead they never relinquished.
Dave Roberts & Julio Urías
Prior to the game, Dave Roberts told all of us that Julio Urías was going to play a large role last night. And because, Urías has been nothing short of spectacular this postseason, I had full confidence he would deliver.
When Urías entered the game in the seventh inning, Kiké Hernandez had just tied the game at three in the previous half-inning. The Dodgers needed a shutdown inning from Urías to maintain the momentum and get back to the offense. He did just that, retiring the Braves in order on 10 pitches. In the bottom of that inning, Bellinger hit his second career go-ahead home run in a Game Seven scenario.
Now Urías had a one-run lead to protect. The first batter he faced in the eighth was Freddie Freeman. The two lefties were locked in a nine-pitch battle, which Urías eventually won, getting Freeman to fly out to Bellinger in center. Urías then threw an additional ten pitches to get Marcell Ozuna and Travis d’Arnaud to end the inning. Retiring the Braves’ heart-of-the-order, in order was huge.
Roberts then made one of the best decisions of his managing career. He kept Urías in for the ninth and had Kenley Jansen warming up, just in case. That was a pro move to not only recognize Urías was carving up the Braves, but had a reinforcement ready to help if Urías got into trouble. This is the type of managing we’ve wanted to see from Roberts for years and he came through in the most crucial game of the year.
As it turned out, Urías didn’t need any help as he mowed down the Braves 1-2-3 for the third time to secure the victory and send the Dodgers to the World Series. In 16 innings pitched this postseason, Urías is 4-0, with a 0.56 ERA, 16 strikeouts, 0.88 WHIP and an opponent batting average of .177. He’s been an absolute stud.
Comeback complete. LA is in the #WorldSeries again. #CLINCHED pic.twitter.com/gLezaZnK7Z
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2020
Final Thoughts
Going into the World Series, I hope the Dodgers can rely less on the dramatic late-inning home run and more on capitalizing with runners in scoring position. Despite scoring four runs last night, they were 1-for-10 with RISP and left a total of 10 men on base.
I am also hoping for more activity once the Dodgers get runners on base. I felt there were many opportunities to steal bases and put pressure on Braves’ pitchers that they didn’t seize upon. The Dodgers have really good base-stealers in Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor on this team. Let’s use them!
However, if the offense continues to be streaky, Roberts needs to recognize that, make the right pitching decisions to keep the games close and our relievers need to deliver. Ideally, I’d like to take the pressure off the bullpen as much as possible, but you also have to match the strategy with your team’s strengths. For example, high-leverage relievers were used so tactfully over the last three games to stop the bleeding, but not so much over first four games. Each time the pitching staff was able to keep the games close throughout, the offense was able to find ways to score and the Dodgers won.
Finally, congratulations to Corey Seager for earning his first NLCS MVP trophy. He had a historic series, clubbing five homers, driving in 11 runs and hitting .310 with an OPS of 1.230.
Jake Reiner is a writer and reporter for Dodgers-LowDown and co-host of The Incline Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @QualityJakes.