It was precisely 36 years in the past Tuesday that Kirk Gibson hit his well-known walk-off residence run off Dennis Eckersley and hobbled across the bases in Dodger Stadium, a 1988 World Sequence Sport 1-winning shot that was so beautiful it elicited this well-known response from Jack Buck on the nationwide radio broadcast: “I don’t believe … what I just saw!”
If Buck have been nonetheless alive and in Chavez Ravine on Sunday evening, he might need had the same response to a pair of weird performs that lacked the drama of a walk-off homer however appeared virtually as uncommon.
Not as soon as, however twice within the first 4 innings of the Nationwide League Championship Sequence opener in opposition to the New York Mets, the Dodgers dropped completely positioned sacrifice bunts, virtually a misplaced artwork in in the present day’s recreation.
Sure, you learn that accurately. A Dodgers crew that led all of baseball with a .446 slugging proportion, ranked third with 233 residence runs and had all of 10 sacrifice bunts in 162 regular-season video games gave up two outs to advance runners on the basepaths.
And guess what? The small-ball technique labored, as each runners who moved up on bunts by No. 9 hitter Tommy Edman and No. 8 batter Gavin Lux scored in a 9-0 Sport 1 victory over the Mets, one on a Shohei Ohtani RBI single within the second inning and one on an Edman RBI single within the fourth.
“It’s just playoff baseball,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated. “The truth of the matter is that the postseason is different than the regular season. It’s about 90 feet and giving yourself … some of that was making sure Shohei had a chance to get up.
“To [Shohei’s] and Tommy’s credit, driving in those runs was huge. And Gavin getting the bunt down, Tommy getting the bunt down, it’s just team baseball. If you can get a guy in scoring position, it just creates a little bit more stress.”
Edman’s bunt, which adopted Lux’s leadoff stroll within the second inning, was not that stunning. The switch-hitting utility man has six sacrifice bunts in his six-year profession and has normally hit towards the underside of the order for the St. Louis Cardinals and Dodgers. Ohtani adopted Edman’s bunt with an RBI single to proper area for a 3-0 lead.
“We’re always working on bunts in case the situation arises, and it kind of made sense in those situations today,” Edman stated. “Obviously, I wanted to get the guy to second for Shohei, and it worked out. In the playoffs, one play can make a huge difference, so to be able to execute in situations like that was huge.”
The left-handed-hitting Lux’s bunt off left-hander David Peterson, which adopted Kiké Hernández’s leadoff single within the fourth, was a little bit of a shocker as a result of the second baseman had not dropped one sacrifice bunt in his whole five-year profession, a span overlaying 412 regular-season video games and 23 playoff video games.
“I’ve been working on it a bit since the season ended, just so in those situations where it might be a tougher lefty or where we need to stay out of a double play, I could get it down,” Lux stated. “I did it a lot coming up through the minor leagues, so it’s nothing foreign. Just kind of been working on it, doing whatever it takes to get it down.”
The bunt got here with a value. Lux tweaked his proper hip flexor popping out of the field and was pulled from the sport as a precaution within the seventh inning. He stated the harm is just not severe.
Edman adopted Lux’s bunt with an RBI single to proper for a 4-0 lead and scored on Ohtani’s 116.5-mph single off the right-center area wall for a 5-0 lead. Freddie Freeman capped the three-run rally with an RBI single to left for a 6-0 lead.
“I don’t think we sac bunted once or twice all year, but you need to stay out of a double play, especially when you have Shohei coming up behind you,” Lux stated. “You want him to have that opportunity with a guy in scoring position, so it’s our job at the bottom to get [the bunt] down and stay out of the double play.”
Placing runners on base for Ohtani could be the important thing to successful the World Sequence for the Dodgers. The presumptive NL most beneficial participant and leadoff man is six for eight with runners on base in six playoff video games and 0 for 16 with the bases empty. Ohtani is 16 for 19 with runners in scoring place relationship to the final week of the common season.
The Mets needed no a part of Ohtani with two on and one out within the eighth inning Sunday evening, strolling the slugger on 4 pitches to load the bases. Mookie Betts adopted with a three-run double to left for a 9-0 lead.
“I don’t think there’s a different approach for him with runners on base,” Lux stated of Ohtani. “He’s the best player on the planet, so I think he’s just finding hits with guys in scoring position.
“I think, as you saw tonight, when there are guys out there, he’s getting it done, so it’s our job at the bottom of the order to keep finding different ways to get on base, whether it’s bunting, walking, hitting, whatever it is.”
