I went to bed in the 5th inning. I got up at 5:30 AM and had to take my wife to the airport, so I was tired anyway. I spared myself the pain!
In some games, everyone hits, or no one hits. I felt it. I did not feel it in the first game. They lost, and the score is irrelevant. In fact, I would rather they lose 10-2 than 2-1. That simply means there is going to be hell to pay in Game 3. Shohei, Mookie, Freddie, and Will Smith combined for 0 Hits. They will redeem themselves. Move on! Nothing to talk about… yet! I do not let one game freak me out! Freddie many or may not play in Game 3. It’s “gut check time.”
That’s all for now.
100% agree.
It was never going to be a sweep
These are the 2 best teams in baseball.
Need Buehler to have that dog in him come tomorrow, I believe he will.
Welcome to the shit show. On to the next one.
P.U.!
It’s sad that come playoff time ,we’re Not healthy in the starting pitching department. You can navigate your way during the 162 game schedule with our depth,but come October you have to have your best healthy top notched pitchers and position players you anticipated being there. This is not the case. I may be called a Moron or someone who worries too much which I never do,but this a fact. In October you have to go war with your very best. Lack of starting pitching, pitchers that don’t belong on the playoff roster and an over used bullpen will be our demise.
We hit we win, simple as that. If Mookies ball is a HR, if Edmans ball is down the line its a totally different ball game.
This was never going to be easy. We didn’t use any leverage Bullpen Pieces last night. We need Buehler to be a bulldog tomorrow.
Stick with these guys….
All we can do now is throw out the remaining troops and hope they can step up and perform
Exactly
Couldn’t have said it better. ‘Thin’ starting pitching will be our downfall, especially in the playoffs. No, I’m not confident going forward.
For whatever reason, the Dodgers simply can’t solidify a strong staff of pitchers heading into the postseason. You have the trading deadline and then miraculously they are stringing together a patchwork staff in the months of Sept and Oct and here we are again.
Granted, even the most casual fan couldn’t have foreseen all the injuries. Heading into the deadline…we thought we had it pretty much covered.
Yes, Tyler Glasnow was reaching his career-high in innings, but was coming off a July 30th start against these same Padres where he went 7 innings and gave up 3 ER while striking out 8 in Petco. It was his third such start against them for the season- all on the road- and although the Dodgers only won one of them, he did his part: 19 IP, 6 ER, 21 K’s for a 2.84 ERA.
Gavin Stone didn’t have a particularly good July, but was still sitting at 9-4 with a 3.34 ERA and did well in his lone start at home against the same Padres (6.2 IP and 2 ER) and would post back-to-back stellar seven-inning starts (only 1 ER allowed) towards the end of August that had him at 11-5 with a 3.33 ERA.
River Ryan had been called up in July and was coming off his first two big league starts that had him give up a single earned run combined- including a game in Houston- in 11 combined innings.
Landon Knack had just made his best July start on the 23rd (5 innings of 1 ER ball) against the Giants and although not much length in them, he had 8 starts under his belt and a 3.07 ERA.
Another rookie in Justin Wrobleski had made four July starts before the deadline (4.05 ERA), averaged EXACTLY five innings (20) in each of them- two of which were also on the road…
Clayton Kershaw had returned to the mound and although struggled in his first two outings back, would give up only 2 ER in his next 3 starts (two of which were also on the road) which entailed 16.3 innings and was showing signs of coming all the way back.
Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler and Dustin May were all due back sometime after the deadline and so was Yoshinobu Yamamato- which should have given the Dodgers even more options.
Yet, even with all of this they still went and traded for one of the best available arms available at the deadline in Jack Flaherty, who had a 2.95 ERA, 133 K’s in 106.6 IP in 18 starts for the Tigers….
and yet, when the smoke cleared….none of Glasnow, Stone, Kershaw, May or Ryan would pitch in September, Buehler would continue to struggle, Miller was so bad he would get demoted and Wrobleski was misused and never allowed consistent turns in the rotation- even in the minors. Knack was optioned back and forth and couldn’t gain consistent starts either and even when Yamamato returned, he was limited to a mere 16 innings in 4 starts.
No ace in Glasnow. Our most consistent guy all season in Stone was also lost for the season. CK couldn’t make it back and went down for good in late August. May had an baseball unrelated throat injury. Ryan, with so much promise also got hurt and was lost for the season.
Which basically left Flaherty, who of course struggled in his last 3 starts heading into the postseason; the unstretched Yamamoto, the struggling Buehler (although a little better in September with a 4.44 ERA in 26.3 innings/5 starts) and the rookie Knack, who conversely had his worst month (5.14 in five September starts).
Hell, all of this and that wasn’t even the least of it. Young arms like Emmett Sheehan was lost for the season before it even began and top prospects Kyle Hurt and Nick Frasso also had season-ending injuries. We got teased with a possible Tony Gonsolin return to action, but like Kersh- that never was going to happen.
And so we “thought” we would at least have a can’t miss bullpen with the addition of Michael Kopech at the deadline (who had been nothing short of brilliant for us with a 4-0 record, 1.13 ERA in 24 games and 6 for 6 in saves); but even that got a nice bit of unpleasant news before October baseball began with both Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly a no-go. With none of our prospects able or even considered to be bullpen options- and with no real urgency to trade for more bullpen arms like the Padres did at the deadline- little used rookie Edgardo Henriquez (who had all of 3.3 big league innings under his belt) and recently demoted Michael Grove (and is 6plus ERA since June ) were given the last two spots on our 13-man staff.
It should surprise absolutely no one that we are where we are at- and nothing short of 20+ runs in the next 3 games is going to change our fate…..PERIOD.
Forgot to mention that even Brent Honeywell, who surprised us with a 2.63 ERA in 37 innings of work this season- and although NOT AT ALL a power pitcher that you need for the postseason…still would have been a nice fall-back option to replace Graterol or Kelly….
you guess it, got hurt (fingernail I think) and was also no longer and option….
I don’t think Honeywell was an option. He may yet be a viable pitcher, but to put it bluntly, He was extremely lucky as a Dodger Pitcher. I don’t think most people believe his stuff will play up in the playoffs.
Of course, Yamamotos, Flahertys, and Henriquez’s stuff hasn’t played up either.
You can say that if they hit they win but the fact is that Dodgers’ starters have given up 9 runs in 8 1/3 innings and put the Dodgers in a hole in both games. And these are supposed to be their best starters.
They can’t be expected to score 7 runs per game in the post-season.
It’s true that most of the hitters aren’t hitting, but starting pitching is important.
I would love it if Walker Buehler was the same pitcher that he was in 2020, but the fact is that he isn’t. Maybe he can summon a clutch performance tomorrow – I hope that he does! But it’s more likely than not that he doesn’t. All you have to do is to look at this year’s previous performance to know that.
Mookie is 0 for in the last 2 playoff series. Joe Davis has said that as Mookie goes so will go the Dodgers. If so, they need something from him quickly.
Don’t know what happened to my post…
What happened?
It’s one loss.
Is there a pattern?
There are always patterns, but the pattern I see is that this team has won more games in the past year than anyone. They have also won more games in the past three, five, and ten years than any other team. It is concerning that they have so many arm injuries. I think we and they know what causes them. Changes are going to be made, but just like last year, the Rangers’ rotation and bullpen were in tatters, and yet they won it all.
They just have to did deep. Yesterday was a loss – would you feel better if they had lost 2-1?
I wouldn’t!
Nope a blowout loss is easier to digest.
No one said this will be easy and we will need guys to step up. Witness Treinen in game 1.
For the next 3 games we are going to need guys to step up.
Who will that be Buehler, Knack, Kopech, Phillips, Muncy, Smith, Betts???
This thing is FAR from over, i was pretty sure it would be 1-1 heading to SD before Game 1 started….
Negativity is anathema to me. It’s frickin October and we are in the thick of it! I’m pumped! Let’s show all the naysayers what we are made of.
Book em
I hear you!!!!
Its 1-1, gonna be a dogfight…..
Being positive or negative doesn’t matter. What any of us think does not affect the outcome of games played by someone else. It’s magical thinking.
Right, so why not be positive and try to enjoy Dodger baseball.
Some of you folks are miserable, why even follow baseball???
Being a fan doesn’t mean that you throw your brain away. I have followed the Dodgers since 1965. Went to my first game in 1959. Lived and died with them every year. But I can see reality.
Don’t tell me how to be a Dodgers fan.
I choose to be positive.
To each his own…..
I would much rather lose 2-1 because it would signal that we have a SP that can hold the line.
As Mark would sat, ‘
Bang
The Padres take after their leader, Machado, who is truly an immature punk. I remember when he played as a Dodger and tripped the first baseman on purpose. Profar taunted the fans after his catch of Mookie’s HR ball. It is never ok to throw anything at a player, but Profar was yelling at fans and making the situation worse. Try that in an East Coast ballpark. Anyway, Mookie needs to step up with some fighting spirit to match his teammates. Buehler needs to shut down the Padres for 6+ innings. Go Dodgers!!! Playoff baseball is so damn fun when we win and it will be a raucous crowd in San Diego the next two games. 1 and 1 will be nice and then here we go for the 5th game in LA. Also, I am biased for sure but it seams to me that Smoltz is always talking up the Padres, especially Darvish, and talking down the Dodgers.
And Tatis is a little Beyotch too.
I dont like his antics.
I wouldnt mind Buehler drilling him in the 1st inning.
There something to be said playing with an edge (which I am fine with), there is also something to be said for being an Azzhole.
Fans throwing objects at players is unacceptable. It becomes a safety issue all around, including stadium security and the fans around them.
In retrospect, Profar and Tatis antagonized the crowd with their antics. Not justifying what the fans did, there is no room for that; however, had Profar and Tatis acted like professionals the whole situation would have likely been diffused! Their antics got tiresome watching from my living room. How about playing the game like the professionals they are. Let’s try that first before proclaiming their innocence and blaming it all on the fans.
Again, the fans are not innocent, but the players involved were certainly complicit in that debacle.
I’d be shocked if MLB doesn’t address that with the players before game 3.
Nonsense.
There is no excuse for behavior like that from the fans.
There is no excuse for players enticing and antagonizing a crowd like they did. There is no excuse for the lack of professionalism. Period!
The start by Darvish yesterday is why starting pitching in the post season is critical. His seven innings of 1 run baseball has reset the Padre bullpen as they go back to Petco. (The fact that it was a blowout helped LA reset their pen as well. ) Flaherty competes, as Roberts would say, but four runs in 5.1 innings was not near good enough. He has walked more hitters since coming to LA and has show the propensity to give up home runs. That is a bad combination in the playoffs. The Dodgers margin for error in the post season, and in this series in particular, is slim. Not saying that they can’t or won’t win but there is a lot pressure on this offense. With Freeman gimpy and Betts, Smith, and Muncy combining for 1 hit in two games, the offense is so reliant on Ohtani and Hernandez. I am not being negative or a naysayer. . I agree with Brian. As good as this offense has been, covering for shaky starting pitching every game is tough. Dodgers should be able to work King into higher pitch counts earlier in the game and, hopefully, Buehler’s post season experience and his tenacity can keep the lid on this Padre offense long enough to give this offense a chance. Having said all that, October baseball is great and, as Dodger fans, we have been lucky enough to experience it as a fan every year since 2015. Petco will be wild and the emotion on the field will be highly charged. Going to be fun to watch.
Ok. #1 I am having a blast
#2 Every year the Boys make the playoffs they will absolutely win the world series. Ok. Some times they don’t and that sucks.
#3 The Dodgers will win the world series!
Book em
Well all the series are tied so there’s that.
Yup its the playoffs and all teams are good, no one said this will be easy….
Man I got a good feeling. Unfortunately 9 sportswriters and all the stats say Madres. So Matt, let’s throw out the stats and throw out our brains, after all we are FANatics, so let’s root for a very realistic chance that we win the Series. I’m as positive as you!
Book em
Pretty weak for Roberts to be inserting himself into the story. The beginning of the end?