SAN DIEGO —
Their beginning shortstop, a defensive whiz who’s having among the best offensive seasons of his 11-year profession, left Tuesday night time’s sport within the third inning after aggravating a left-adductor pressure not as soon as, not twice, however 3 times within the first three innings, and he seems uncertain for Wednesday night time.
Their first baseman and No. 3 hitter, an eight-time All-Star and the 2020 Nationwide League Most worthy participant, was pulled for a pinch-runner within the eighth inning, his severely sprained proper ankle hurting a lot he might barely jog to first base after his two-out single, and he’s questionable for Wednesday night time.
Their rotation is so skinny by way of simply three playoff video games that, confronted with a win-or-go-home sport within the Nationwide League Division Sequence on Wednesday night time, they may make use of a bullpen sport.
Is that this any technique to win a World Sequence?
If you happen to’re the Dodgers, you don’t have any selection.
“We can’t look at the mountain — we just have to look at the task at hand, and that’s one pitch at a time,” Dodgers proper fielder Mookie Betts mentioned after Tuesday night time’s 6-5 Recreation 3 loss to the San Diego Padres in Petco Park pushed them to the brink of elimination within the best-of-five collection.
“Every time we get to bat, we have to make something happen. [Whether we’re] up, down, it doesn’t matter. It’s obviously going to be a lot more pressure. Each at-bat is going to matter exponentially more, so we have to figure out a way to get it done.”
That job begins on the mound, the place a deep and versatile bullpen that has been the spine of pitching workers all season will look to quell an explosive Padres offense that pinned a six-spot on Dodgers starter Walker Buehler within the second inning of Recreation 3 after clubbing six homers in a 10-2 thrashing of the Dodgers in Recreation 2.
Supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned a reliever will begin Wednesday night time. The crew’s highest-leverage arms — Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda and Ryan Brasier — shall be accessible, although Banda, who threw 1⅓ innings Tuesday night time, and Kopech, who threw one inning, could be restricted.
Padres supervisor Mike Schildt mentioned Dylan Stop, who threw 82 pitches whereas permitting 5 runs and 6 hits in 3 ⅓ innings of Recreation 1 Saturday night time, will begin Recreation 4 on three days’ relaxation.
“It’s essentially all hands on deck, knowing we’ve got Jack [Flaherty] and [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto for a potential Game 5,” Roberts mentioned. “Certainly, this situation isn’t ideal, but I feel that us being able to stay away from [most] of our leverage arms gives those guys three days off going into Game 4, and we can kind of push them a little bit more.”
Roberts may need to piece collectively a lineup as effectively, after Rojas tweaked his injured left leg twice within the second inning, first whereas attempting — and failing — to show an unassisted double play on Xander Bogaerts’ grounder, after which whereas ranging to his proper to forestall Jake Cronenworth’s infield single from reaching the outfield two batters later.
Rojas remained within the sport and singled to spark the Dodgers’ four-run rally within the high of the third. Rojas took second on Shohei Ohtani’s single, and when Betts adopted with a single to middle, Rojas steamed round third simply as third-base coach Dino Ebel put up a cease signal. Rojas hobbled again to the bag and was changed by Andy Pages.
“I don’t know,” Rojas mentioned, when requested if he can be out for the remainder of this collection. “Let’s see how I wake up and come here [Wednesday]. I’ll do whatever I can to be available, but obviously, this is not an easy one to answer right now.”
Rojas, who fielded Bogaerts’ chopper up the center however lunged too late to the second-base bag to drive out Jackson Merrill, was kicking himself afterward, and never solely as a result of he didn’t flip the ball to second baseman Gavin Lux for a certain out.
“It was also the wrong decision for my body and for my health,” he mentioned, “because that was the play I aggravated the injury on.”
Freeman, who injured his ankle within the final week of the common season, has undergone hours of each day remedies and brought painkillers and injections so as to begin the primary three video games, however he was pulled from Recreation 2 within the sixth inning and couldn’t end Recreation 3 on Tuesday night time.
“It’s pretty bad,” Freeman mentioned after Tuesday night time’s sport.
How does Freeman really feel about enjoying Wednesday night time?
“Tomorrow is tomorrow,” he mentioned. “A lot goes into it before these games, but I was able to get through today, and tomorrow we’ll reconvene and start [treatment] all over again.”
If Rojas can’t play Wednesday, Tommy Edman would transfer from middle area to shortstop, and Pages would seemingly play middle area. If Freeman can’t play, Max Muncy would transfer from third base to first base and Kiké Hernández would play third.
“Given that it’s an elimination game, I’m sure he’s going to want to be in there,” Roberts mentioned of Rojas. “But we’ve got to evaluate at what cost, as far as how effective he can be, whether it be defensively with the range or at the plate. So I don’t know that right now.”
Does the identical go for Freeman?
“Same thing with Freddie,” Roberts mentioned. “That’s right.”
Roberts noticed one silver lining Tuesday night time — Betts, who was three for 44 (.068) in his earlier 12 playoff video games courting to Recreation 4 of the 2021 NL Championship Sequence, snapped an 0-for-23 playoff drought with a first-inning dwelling run — a 342-foot drive that went off the glove of leaping left-fielder Jurickson Profar — and a third-inning single.
However after Teoscar Hernández’s third-inning grand slam, the Dodgers went one for 21 with seven strikeouts off Padres starter Michael King and relievers Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, Tanner Scott and Robert Suarez over the ultimate 6 ⅔ innings.
“We’ve just got to keep playing,” Betts mentioned. “I don’t think there’s a magic potion or something. We’re all trying to do the same thing — win a World Series — and each game is one stepping stone toward that.”
