They Had Every Advantage. Then They Gave It Away.
The Dodgers needed seven pitchers in a game in which Atlanta started a reliever. Somehow, the team with Blake Snell ended up using more pitchers than the team with the bullpen game.
Braves 3, Dodgers 2
NLDS tied 1-1
There are losses, and then there are games where you sit there afterward wondering how a team with this much talent could look that bad.
Sunday night was the latter.
The Dodgers had Blake Snell going against what amounted to another Atlanta bullpen game. They were at Dodger Stadium. They had won Game 1. The Braves had already been forced to lean heavily on their pitching staff.
This was the game the Dodgers were supposed to win.
Instead, they played as if they were waiting for someone else to do it.
Atlanta won 3-2, and now the NLDS heads to Atlanta tied at one game apiece.
Snell Wasn't Snell
Blake Snell didn't get hammered.
In some ways, it was worse than that.
He simply couldn't command the baseball.
Snell threw 90 pitches in 3.2 innings, only 47 for strikes. He allowed three hits and one run, but walked five while striking out five. His first inning alone took 27 pitches.
That is not October baseball from your $182 million, two-time Cy Young Award winner.
Dave Roberts said afterward that Snell was fighting his delivery and didn't have command of his fastball or slider, while his changeup wasn't there either.
Translation: He wasn't locked in.
Snell survived. He battled. He limited the damage.
But there is a significant difference between surviving and dominating.
October aces dominate.
The Dodgers needed seven pitchers in a game in which Atlanta started a reliever. Somehow, the team with Blake Snell ended up using more pitchers than the team with the bullpen game.
That's almost impressive.
Just not in a good way.
The Offense Was Pathetic
This was the bigger problem.
The Dodgers went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners.
They had opportunities.
They just kept stepping on them.
Miguel Rojas doubled to start the third inning.
Beautiful.
Then Tommy Edman popped up a bunt.
Not beautiful.
Mookie Betts walked, putting two runners aboard.
Shohei Ohtani came to the plate.
This is exactly why you pay Shohei Ohtani a gazillion dollars.
Result?
Pop-up.
Threat over.
The Dodgers managed two hits against Braves opener Ray Kerr and repeatedly let Atlanta off the hook.
And then came one of the ugliest statistics of the night:
Fourteen consecutive Dodgers were retired before Max Muncy homered with two outs in the ninth, as the LA Times proclaimed.
Fourteen.
Against a bullpen game.
At home.
In October.
That's not getting beaten by Sandy Koufax.
That's disappearing.
Freddie Did His Job
Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers exactly what they needed in the fourth.
BOOM.
Home run.
1-1.
Freeman now has 13 postseason homers that either tied the game or put his team ahead, one shy of José Altuve's record.
For a moment, it looked like the Dodgers might be waking up.
They hit the snooze button.
Then Came the Keystone Cops
The fifth inning was the game.
Michael Harris II hit a ball into the left-field corner.
Teoscar Hernández took a questionable route; the ball got past him, and Harris wound up at third.
Then Kris Bubic uncorked a wild pitch.
Harris scored.
2-1 Braves.
Later, Harris drove in Atlanta's third run with a seventh-inning double.
The Dodgers didn't lose because Atlanta overwhelmed them.
They lost because Atlanta played cleaner baseball.
There is a difference.
Where Were Mookie and Shohei and will?
Eventually, the stars have to be stars.
October doesn't care what your WAR was in June.
It doesn't care how many home runs you hit during the regular season.
It doesn't care about endorsements, MVP trophies or Statcast exit velocity.
When the game is sitting there waiting to be taken, somebody has to take it.
Sunday night, Freddie Freeman tried.
Max Muncy tried late.
The rest of the lineup spent much of the evening watching Braves pitchers walk off the mound smiling.
Atlanta's Didier Fuentes pitched 3⅔ innings in relief before Muncy finally got him with two outs in the ninth.
Again: The Braves were supposedly the team with the pitching problem.
Funny how that worked out.
Muncy Made It Interesting
Max Muncy's ninth-inning homer cut it to 3-2.
For approximately five minutes, Dodger fans could locate their pulse again.
But Raisel Iglesias finished it.
Game over.
Opportunity squandered.
Here's What Bothers Me
Losing doesn't bother me nearly as much as how they lost.
Atlanta didn't play a flawless masterpiece.
The Dodgers didn't get steamrolled.
This was a winnable baseball game sitting on a silver platter.
Los Angeles had:
Home field.
Momentum.
Snell.
A tired Atlanta pitching staff.
Multiple scoring opportunities.
And a chance to go to Atlanta with a 2-0 series lead.
They turned all of that into a 1-1 series.
That's the part that should sting.
Planet Reality
Now comes Game 3, and Chris Sale is waiting in Atlanta.
Suddenly, what looked like a chance to put Atlanta in a chokehold has become a best-of-three series with the Braves holding home-field advantage for the next two games.
Does that mean the Dodgers are finished?
Of course not.
This team can absolutely win two more games.
But enough of the sleepwalking.
Enough waiting for the three-run homer.
Enough sloppy defense.
Enough unproductive at-bats.
And it's enough to assume talent will eventually win the game for you.
It won't.
October baseball is usually decided by the team that executes the little things when the pressure gets enormous.
Sunday night, that team was Atlanta.
The Dodgers?
They looked pathetic.
It's one game.
But it's also October.
And you don't get many mulligans in October. Shohei looks pathetic, and at some point, Ohtani needs to sit if he can't deliver, and Josue DePaula needs to get in the lineup. There, I said it!
Time to wake up. Hopefully, Jeff will publish his synopsis of the OKC Comets tomorrow, so at least we can talk about something good...
(Apologies to Bluto for the format.)
Discussion (67)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I looked for a prop bet that Ohtani would strike out more than two times. Couldn't find one. Might be a sure bet depending on the odds.
Let's say the planet align and the Brewers and Rays are in the WS. The two teams with probably the lowest payroll would be competing for the biggest prize in baseball. Let's see the scribes explain that.
I'm assuming Max and probably Edman will sit against Sale tomorrow and we'll see Miggy and Kike in the starting lineup. I have no clue if that strategy will prove effective but I'm not saying it won't. Tommy is in a funk so subbing Miggy doesn't seem crazy. Max can have problems against guys like Sale, so even with homers the last couple of games, I expect Doc to do Doc, and that might work out as well. We'll know soon enough.
With Miggy realizing every game could be his last and Kike realizing the calendar has turned to October, we could have a pleasant surprise.
The guy I'm most worried about against Sale is Shohei and as others have stated, if he pulls a 3-strikeout performance tomorrow it may just be time to let JDP have his day.
Just for the record, I expect Pages to have a couple of hits tomorrow.......that is, if we get any hits.
I’ve said it before. The Dodgers are old and slow. That cannot be changed now. They ran it back from last year, a year older, and slower. Even John Smoltz was incredulous that Mookie and Shohei did not double steal in the 5th. Smoltz kept saying the Braves are giving Mookie 3rd, but he won’t take it. Perhaps if they pull off a double steal, Mookie scores on Smith’s flyball with Ohtani taking 3rd, where he would have scored on Freeman’s fly ball. Or at the very least, they should have tried.
Ohtani is not right. But for a singles hitter, at least he does have 2 hits. That is equal to or better than everyone except Freddie and Tucker. So is he really hurting the team? I do not expect him to come through in the clutch right now.
I guess Bluto thinks that the Dodger coaches should be hired for life. Watching Tommy Edman try to bunt was painful. You have a week off, and you know you need to score runs; do you not practice bunting at all? Edman’s bat was pointing down below the ball. What do you think the result is going to be? The Braves had the same situation, and Yastrzemski got the bunt down. They did not score because after an IBB to Baldwin, Acuña hit a rocket (106.8 MPH) right to Mookie who turned a 6-4-3 DP. The Dodgers look like a team that expects to win with HRs. And why not? In two games they have 5 HR which is one less than Atlanta in three fewer games. Although, 3 are solo HR. After an 0-8 wRISP yesterday, they are now 0-9 in the playoffs. 13 runners LOB.
Who is the Dodgers’ Michael Harris Jr. or Jackson Chourio? You might think it should be Pages, but his playoff exploits are beyond pathetic. In 83 PA (3rd playoffs this year), Pages is hitting .104/.148/.195/.343, 1 double, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 walk, 21 K. Yesterday was his first career playoff BB. At what point do you stick Kiké out there? He was signed for the playoffs, correct?
Atlanta knew that Snell gets more chase than any pitcher in MLB, and they planned for it. The plan was to not swing at spin until Snell proved he could land one for a strike. He couldn’t very often. Even the biggest free swinger on the Braves (Ozzie Albies) was patient.
If I am the Braves, I do not throw Ohtani or Pages a strike. Neither has proven they can be patient, and both will swing at a ball a foot outside..
Yes, the Dodgers can and have beaten Sale. But he threw a complete game shutout in Atlanta when they last played in August. He gave up more hits than Yama gave up, but one of the hits off Yama was a Drake Baldwin leadoff HR; the only run of the game. And since the Dodgers did not hit a HR, their chances of scoring off Sale were minimal. Yama is just as capable of shutting down the Braves, but the Dodgers have to score runs.
Since 2022, Tyler Mahle has started against the Dodgers twice, once with Texas (2025) and once with San Francisco (2026); both 7 scoreless innings.
If the Dodgers are going to win in Atlanta, they are going to need to do more than wait on the HR. Will they?
someone tell me why Bubic and Sasaki are on the roster let alone pitching in high level innings? Bubic made no appearances for the club in the regular season and Sasaki has been overall bad as a starter and reliever.
No outs, 1-1 tie 2 men on, Betts on 2nd. taking a 20 ft+ lead. Why didn't he go to third? The next two Dodgers hits were fly ball outs that would have brought in the tying run. Ohh yeah...Roberts is the Manager. No Guts.....No Glory It's October, Remember?
I posted as James below. I was in a clinic getting nerves burned in my back. I couldn't see either as I didn't have my readers. Our highly paid "stars" need to show up in this short series or we can kick around the finer points of the CBA for months. It's a "Do - Don't" situation. Play better or go home. I think Yamamoto is up to the task but the bats need to show up which has been our issue in losses all year. It's one game - Move on and play better.
Time for Yamamoto to add to his Dodger legacy. Time for the bats to give us four runs. Need some clutch hits to do it.
We're luck the score wasn't way worse. 0 for 8 RISP, walking 8, Snell awful, Bucic wild pitch after a triple, Edman brutal sac bunt attempt. Note to Doc, scrap the sac bunt, we're shitty at it. Move on and hope Ohtani and Pages show up no time to panic. Just play better and get Yamamoto some runs off Sale.
Same thing that beat them many times during the season beat them yesterday. Lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. 0-8. Not acceptable by any means. Team is showing its age.
The Dodgers are the better team but the better team doesn't always win. The last 2 seasons' titles were characterized by the Dodgers doing all of the little things right and making the right decisions even when the big bats were silent. That didn't happen yesterday. Teo's playing a single into a triple and then Bubic's wild pitch lead to the winning run. The failure to hit with RISP.
Sale is not unbeatable but the Dodgers have to start doing the little things that win games. Timely hitting. Good defense. Good starting pitching.
Last night's game was tough to watch. Seeing Freddie wake up a bit was nice. But, the rest of the team's offensive output was typical of what we have seen so many times the back half of the season. Even fundamental bunting technique was a failure by Tommy Edman.
Max being Max...again.
Ohtani is continuing to be irrelevant at the plate. If he is hurt get him the hell out of the lineup and let JDP do DH duties. It would be hard to believe JDP could be worse and would add some energy to this veteran team. IF Ohtani isn't hurt then it could be we've seen the best of Ohtani at the plate. Right now, he seems to only thrive on poor to mediocre pitching and there isn't much if that in the postseason. Against Chris Sale I'm guessing a minimum of three K's and a roll over ground out. Only one RBI and zero HR in the past two months. That's Chris Taylor production and he's not even in the MLB.
Then there was the pathetic performance by their highly paid part time starter Blake Snell. Combined with his awful pitching in last year's WS and this stinker he has cemented his place in postseason Dodger lore as a fraud. He sits out most of the season in order to prepare himself for playoff baseball. So, when it's Snell's turn in Game 2 he gets outpitched by a 32 year old journeyman who has all of 72+ innings of MLB experience. Awesome. Snell is a Hall of Faker, not Famer.
I know it's only two games, but the pattern is the same we have watched for July, August, and Sept. In most cases they only score if a HR is involved. No HRs, no runs. Poor execution with RISP where the DP has often been the main culprit.
The time is now for the Dodgers to turn things around and get out of this months long funk or their season may end in Atlanta.
Carry on
Disappointing game. I think it was lost in the 1rst with Snell's shaky control. He's been prone to that in the past - he's not exactly an efficient pitcher at times, and he had burned I think 90 by the time the 4th rolled around. Without that 1rst inning mess - and they fortunately only gave up one run on an infield hit - Muncy's homer ties the game in dramatic fashion. It was just a tight game the rest of the way, and it's not as if the Braves were on fire with RISP, either. Playoff games are tight that way.
Freeman has looked good so far in the playoffs, as have Tucker, Teo, Betts ... and Muncy, who's my favorite player. He has been ever since he told MadBum to go fish his home run out of the Bay. I don't know what to expect from Ohtani. The Unicorn carried the team at times last year. It'll be hard to win if he does nothing, and the Dodgers really need to do something against Sale, or it's a short playoff run.
I don't know if anyone noticed, but Diaz was dealing yesterday. At his peak with the Mets, his 4 seamer averaged 99. It has ticked lower year over year, and this year, with his injuries and ineffectiveness, it has averaged 96.5. He was averaging 100 yesterday, and he looked pretty dominant. That's a good sign. If he can pitch like the guy the Dodgers threw $$$ at in the offseason, that's a great addition, because I'm not confident in Scott, Philips, and especially not Roki.
What an ending with the Brewers/Pods! The Dodgers game could have been similarly dramatic with Muncy's dinger had not Snell shit the bed in the first. I didn't realize how good Chourio is - and he's young ... and he's already signed to an 8 year contract that's team friendly. The Brewers construct rosters in a really unique way, mostly because they're not rich. They have a great development system, promote players early, sign them early to team friendly deals, and if Chourio signs a huge FA contract at 28 with someone else, they've already gotten his peak years and they can develop someone else. Signing expensive FAs to long term deals is a sucker bet - mostly. Ohtani's worth it. Betts was probably worth it.
I just have too laugh at the buffoonery! Oh, and I don't mean the Dodgers. Even a realist could see that the Dodgers weren't going 162-0. Or 11-0. Have a little faith. Who stole our fearless leader? AI did. This is so bad it's funny. I like funny. Boys in 5! Book em
Seriously, it’s just bad writing.
For good writing, there’s this piece by Rosenthal:. It’s so good.
“I’ve been saying this for a long time now: I don’t think people truly appreciate how hard it is to make a deep postseason run year in and year out,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “You see it every year with teams that make these runs and the next year they’re not even close to the same. They’re hurt. They’re worn out. They’ve got things going on.
“We’ve been able to weather that for a lot of years now. The Division Series is obviously not as much of a sprint as the wild card. But it’s a sprint. It’s five games. It’s short. They’re really, really tough to play.”
No one is going to feel sorry for the Dodgers. No one should when their competitive-balance tax payroll is the highest in the sport. But so many postseason games turn on the smallest of margins. On Sunday night, Dodgers lefty Kris Bubic threw a run-scoring wild pitch, allowing the Braves to take the lead for good.
Numerous times over the past several years, Dodgers opponents were the victims of such unfortunate events. The called third strike on Flores and error on Kerkering were two examples. Isiah Kiner-Falefa taking too small a lead in Game 7 of last year’s World Series and getting thrown out at home plate was another.
The Dodgers also made their own luck, repeatedly seizing the moment in October, and never more than in that Game 7, in which they executed one heroic play after another. They’re really good. We all know that by now. But no matter how much they spend, their success in the postseason is not fait accompli.
I have been a Dodger fan longer than Dave Roberts has been alive. I think he is a good person but one of the worst managers in baseball. Since he's been there, he should have won at least two other World Series. He doesn't play small ball and loves this lefty/righty pitching strategy. He is as bad as Sparky Anderson/Captain Hook! The Dodgers win in spite of him, not because of him. Ohtani should be hitting down in the lineup. Call should have been on the roster. I doubt that they will go all the way. Sad!
Last night felt like I watching a regular season game--lack of clutch hitting and a BP that bleeds runs. The Braves gave the Dodgers several oppty's to break open the game.
If I am Braves fan, I am thinking just limit the long ball and don't worry about walking too many Dodgers because they cannot string enough hits together to score.
I am also thinking no need to throw many strikes (if any) to Shohei who appears to be guessing at the plate. Be better or sit.
After 2 playoff games, it appears we still have the "playoff Pages" version of Andy Pages. No hits, no power, strike outs, best outcome is a walk.
Just one game of course but, for me, Game 3 is a must "show-up" game.
We’ve been wanting the Dodgers to bunt a little more. Well we got one! Just not a good one, or a necessary one! Hit the damn ball! Please!! The Braves were begging Mookie to steal third! Ohtani got a hit! First and second nobody out? Boring baseball. Can they beat Chris Sale? Absolutely. But somebody needs to tell Ohtani not to swing at balls 2 frigging feet off the plate! Yamamoto to the rescue! In my opinion he should have started game 2. But no use crying over wasted opportunities to put the Braves in a 2-0 hole. They have been in sticky situations before and come out on top. I’m still believing that they will do it again!
I was all up for this game after the Rams mounted their furious comeback at PHI. But then the Dodgers the entire game looked sleepier than I did at 5.30 am CET when this game ended. What a choke job by the offense. This was not on the pitching at all. Giving up 3 runs vs a good ATL lineup is absolutely fine and should be enough to win.
Ohtani looks completely off as far as his power stroke is concerned. IMHO he is a lot more injured then the Dodgers are letting out. I am with Mark : If he continues like that he has to sit.
With Sale looming tomorrow in ATL 1-2 is a not so unlikely outcome. Then it would be do or die already.
Mark, write however you want. Nobody's required to read your content here.
"Live by the homerun and die by the homerun". All the Dodgers' runs in the two games were by the homerun. 0-8 with men in scoring position yesterday and playing conservative baseball with Mookie and Ohtani on first and second, no outs and both left standing there. Why NOT try a double steal? The Braves were giving it to us. Two flyouts by Smith and Freeman would have scored a run. In playoff baseball you have to take chances. There are very few tomorrows. Hopefully Yamamota can outpitch Sale and regain the momentum or it will start to be a long cold hard winter with a December lockout on the horizon.