TORONTO — Sure, blame the bullpen. Not gonna even attempt to persuade you in any other case.
However, for the Dodgers, the blame for the catastrophe that was Sport 1 of the World Sequence mustn’t all fall upon the bullpen.
A star-studded lineup that sputtered by the earlier two rounds of the playoffs sputtered once more right here Friday, this time with out the quilt of excellent beginning pitching.
Of their previous 9 video games — the division sequence in opposition to the Philadelphia Phillies, the league championship sequence in opposition to the Milwaukee Brewers, and the World Sequence opener in opposition to the Toronto Blue Jays — the Dodgers are batting .219.
The Dodgers had seven hits of their NLCS opener, when Blake Snell threw eight shutout innings. He picked up the offense.
They’d six hits within the World Sequence opener, when Snell gave up 5 runs in five-plus innings, and so they couldn’t choose him up.
The Blue Jays scored 11 runs. The Dodgers led the Nationwide League in runs throughout the common season, however even then they’ve scored at the least 11 runs simply 3 times for the reason that All-Star break. The Blue Jays have achieved it 3 times on this postseason alone.
“You can make it something if you want to make it something,” shortstop Mookie Betts mentioned. “We’re more than capable of scoring 10, 11 in a game. It’s just hard to do in the postseason.
“Obviously, they just did it. They’ve been doing it the whole time, so it may not be hard for them. For us, we haven’t done it. But we’ll find out ways to win games.”
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts reacts throughout an at-bat within the first inning in opposition to the Toronto Blue Jays in Sport 1 of the World Sequence on Friday evening.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
They’d higher discover it quickly. The Blue Jays are averaging seven runs per sport within the postseason. The Dodgers haven’t scored seven runs in any sport within the NLDS, NLCS or World Sequence.
“You look back at the last couple of weeks, there’s some pivotal at-bats that can flip games,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned. “At times, I think that the offense looks great as far as building innings, but there’s some key at-bats that you got to win pitches and use the other side of the field, get a hit, take a walk, whatever it might be.
“I think that we can be better. We need to be better.”
The Dodgers had three hits in seven at-bats with runners in scoring place, which sounds fairly good till you understand all seven of these at-bats got here within the second and third innings.
Within the third inning, three of their remaining 4 batters hit with a runner in scoring place, and so they scored as soon as. However the second inning was worse: that they had the bases loaded with one out for 3 successive batters, and once more they scored as soon as.
“We’ve got to cash in in that situation, especially against a team like that that’s swinging it really well,” Betts mentioned. “I feel like that was a big point in the game that really changed things.
“That really changed the game.”
The Dodgers struck out 13 occasions, the Blue Jays 4. The Jays ran their high-contact, low-strikeout offense to perfection Friday. The Dodgers led the NL in residence runs this season, and so they hit 50 greater than Toronto, however they hit just one residence run Friday: a two-run shot from Shohei Ohtani, with the staff down by 9 runs.
The Blue Jays’ beginning pitcher for Sport 2, Kevin Gausman, has a protracted reminiscence. On Friday, he thought again to Oct. 14, 2021.
That was the day the Dodgers eradicated the 107-win San Francisco Giants within the NLDS. Gausman, working in aid, was the ultimate pitcher for the Giants. Max Scherzer, additionally working in Toronto now, was the ultimate pitcher for the Dodgers.
The ultimate pitch of the sport: a extremely debated third strike to Wilmer Flores.
“I still think about the check swing on Wilmer Flores,” Gausman mentioned. “I don’t think it was a swing, but, you know, that’s kind of water under the bridge.”
4 years later, Gausman hasn’t forgotten. Factor is, simply because the Dodgers rely on attending to the World Sequence yearly doesn’t imply they’ll. If the staff with three Corridor of Famers atop their lineup doesn’t get its bats rolling, the Dodgers may not neglect this for years to return.
