This was Shohei Ohtani’s 1st playoff start as a pitcher. While Philly did not hit Ohtani particularly hard, he gave up three to Philly in the 2nd. The weak defensive play by RF Teoscar Hernández gave the Phillies their 3rd run, but Ohtani walked Alec Bohm (a no-no), a ground ball single to Brandon Marsh, and a double by JT Realmuto that Teoscar played into a triple, then scored on a Harrison Bader Sac Fly.
Offensively the Dodgers had no answer to LHSP Cristopher Sánchez over the first 5 innings. Ohtani 3 Ks. Teoscar 2 Ks (his 3rd in the 6th). Two hits…an opposite line drive single by Freddie in the 2nd and an infield single by Alex Call in the 5th. Tommy Edman had the 2 hardest hit balls through 5 for LAD (108.9 and 104.7), but both ground ball outs to 3B.
The Dodgers finally got to Sánchez in the 6th. Two out BB to Freddie, single by Edman, and a 2-run double by LAD’s Mr. October, Kiké Hernández. That ended the day for Sánchez as Philly brought in David Robertson. Max Muncy PH for Call and got to 3-0. He swung at ball 4 twice.
Ohtani had no problem with the top of the order. Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper were 0-9 with 5 strikeouts. He retired 15 of the last 17 batters he faced including 10 in a row. He had 9 Ks. He did allow the three runs on 3 hits, 1 BB, and 1 HBP. He thew 89 pitches and totaled 23 swings and misses.
With Robertson coming back out in the 7th, the Dodgers put the first two on with a Pages single and Smith HBP. Philadelphia went to LHRP Matt Strahm to face Ohtani. Ohtani K’d for the 4th time and Mookie popped up. And that brought up Teoscar and his 3 Ks. On a 1-0 pitch Strahm left a 4-seamer middle up and Teo put it into the RF stands for a 3-run HR and a 5-3 lead.
Again, if you want Teoscar, you have to have all of him. He is a clear liability with the glove, but he more than makes up for it with his bat…even if he strikes out 3 times before the HR.
Glasnow came in to relieve for Ohtani and got through 7th unscathed. But then came that 8th inning. A one out BB, and then a 2-out ground ball single by Harper,and BB loaded the bases. That brought Roberts out to take the ball from Glas and bring in Vesia. Can’t we just skip the 8th inning? . Not to make excuses for Glas, but he did not pitch much down the stretch. 5.0 IP on Saturday September 20, and 3.0 IP on Saturday September 27. While it was not as he might have planned, it was Tyler’s first relief appearance since 2018 with Pittsburgh. Okay, I like Glasnow.
Philadelphia PH for LH hitting Brandon Marsh with RH hitting Edmundo Sosa. Vesia got Sosa to hit a routine fly ball into CF for the 3rd out.
The Dodgers new closer, Roki Sasaki, gave up a one-out double to Max Kepler, but retired the final two batters to get the save. Ohtani gets a win in his first post season start. Sasaki gets his first ever MLB save. The Dodgers got a playoff road victory.
While it may not have been a deciding factor in this game, the difference in the defense may very well be a game changer. The Dodgers did not make all of the plays, while Philly seemed to play exceptional defense. Just something to watch as the series moves on.
Some were looking at the Harrison Bader vs Alex Call matchup. Bader had no official AB with a sac fly and HBP while Call was 1-1 (infield single) with a BB. And both were PH for after 2 PA. The big difference was the exceptional catch by Bader on an Andy Pages drive into RC. We later learned that Bader was PH for because of a hamstring issue. Do not yet know the severity of the injury.
The Dodgers were looking for a split in Philadelphia, and are now playing with house money. On Monday, the Dodgers look to take two in Philly with LHSP Blake Snell vs LHSP Jesus Luzardo. I think the one lineup change we could see is Will Smith in as catcher and Ben Rortvedt to the bench. Doc said that it was still up in the air, and that he might want to put the same guys out there. He also wants to see how Will comes back on Sunday.
I thought the Dodgers needed to get a closer at the deadline to win a WS. And I was willing to use any of our young capital to get one. Seems AF had a different plan. And now we have our own dominant closer and all of our precious young OFers. Checkers and chess! And I’m even lousy at checkers! A dominant Snell on Monday and this series is over!
The teams plan from the beginning was ‘we have enough guys, they just have to get healthy’. Now we are seeing it play out. No need to use Scott. Even when we were up 10-2 he didn’t get used. My feeling he doesn’t pitch in ANY game where we are leading or close behind
I said at the trade deadline AF didn’t need to get anybody our guys just need to play better. As Yogi once said “u can look it up” however, I didn’t know Smith was going to be hurt entering Rortvedt from the deadline. Our biggest issue to date is the 8th inning. Brock Stewart could have filled the 7th or 8th. So AF can’t control injuries but I think we have him 2 more years. I also did not know Sasaki would be on the roster. I had given up on him. He has certainly taken control of the 9th inning in a very small sample size. AF got 2 young outfield prospects who any team would like. He also got a lefty pitcher Sewinski or something like that. Call is on the playoff roster.i think AF stole the deadline just not the big names. I still think he kept Conforto hoping he would produce but not willing to let someone pick him up to hurt us in the playoffs. I know no one wants him but it would have been a risk. We lost May and the catcher who are 2 good players but May is hurt again n the other was probably never going to be on our roster.
Rec
After the unfortunate 2nd-inning, Shohei manned up, adjusted his pitching, and mowed down the Phillies through 7. His iron will anchored the team’s comeback win. Impressive.
Sasaki throwing triple digits again, remakes himself into a legit closer, and did all this within a season. Wow, NEVER saw it coming.
I’m confident Snell > Luzardo.
Fingers crossed Will can catch from here on out.
Shohei pitched 6 innings.
Yes, I stand corrected.
The way that game started and the way it ended clearly looked disparate. Like halves in a football game.
The bullpen sure has a different feel to it.
Yep, the defense kinda sucks, and, we have 3 DH’s in the lineup. But, what was put together early has come together late and it just might work.
“Again, if you want Teoscar, you have to have all of him. He is a clear liability with the glove, but he more than makes up for it with his bat…even if he strikes out 3 times before the HR.” Jeff
While true, Teo was swinging at pitches way out of the strike zone and missing them by a foot. He can have non-competitive at bats in-between those home runs.
Ohtani taking fastballs he could hit. Is he trying too hard to stop swinging at pitches he can’t hit?
If you want the playoffs Teo, you have to have all of him. Even with his punchouts on a pitch a foot outside. He is who he is.
I wasn’t disagreeing. You made a good point.
I keep hearing the Dodgers are one of the more disciplined teams at the plate and yet I keep seeing the same thing Bum is referring to – taking fastballs down the middle then chasing pitches that are several inches out of the strike zone. It’s been going on since Van Skyhack has been here.
I was taught, and continued to teach, no matter the count, attack strikes, especially those over the middle. If a pitcher wants to give you a cookie for strike one, take a huge bite of it. It’s the best pitch you’re likely to see so why are you standing there looking at it? I hear “well we want to work the count to make the starter throw more strikes.” Ok, with that in mind, if you barrel up a tubed strike 1 on the first pitch you can rest assured that pitcher won’t do that again.
That being said, and having been said before, this is who the Dodgers are. How can one argue their success?
Question: what is Ohtani’s OPS+ when he is pitching?
I’m not sure taking pitches down the middle isn’t anything but completely guessing what pitch is coming and guessing wrong.
Maybe stop guessing, and do what you’re good at.
The point is you go up looking for a fastball down the middle. If you get that pitch you lean on it. If you don’t, take it.
I’m not out there, so what do I know.? But I think when pitches are coming at 100MPH you don’t have a lot of time to just ‘react’
If Sasaki continues to pitch like he does at the moment the Dodgers will be in good shape this postseason. Not saying they can´t be beat but it will be a tough task for every team.
offense and the rotation already are top of the heap .
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bader to have imaging on injury. Loss of his defense is huge. Torri Hunter has joined Pujols as a managerial candidate for the Angels.
Who would you rather have out there? Conforto or Teo? Easy choice for me. Teo loves the post-season.
Lol…..you must be in a giddy mood after that big win. And yea, I love winning game 1s. Makes me relax a bit more while watching game 2.
Softball question.
Give us a harder one to make it more interesting
No can do Fred, would not want your brain to implode
remember me? I’m the guy who said Sasaki should not pitch this year due to rust and being a rookie? Ignore me; I’m old.
He’s the closer we’ve all been hoping for.
The damned 8th inning nearly got us again. Nice job Vesia.
I’m glad to see Ohtani pitch and I thought he settled in well. We all know he’s better at home but he was great the 3rd thru 6th. He also hit like a pitcher.
The 4 K’s, 3 looking are just bullshit. Swing the bat.
Why do the announcers make such a big deal out of Ohtani having to pitch and get ready to hit? Like it’s Defcon 1. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t pitchers actually have to bat for about 120 years before the DH was adopted in both leagues? Why is that such a big with Ohtani?
Sanchez was tough. He looks unhitable at times. I’d be running to the bat rack when he was lifted in the 6th after a walk, single and double.
I thought Nestoe Ceja did a good job behind the dish, He missed few low pitches but was pretty consistent I thought. Unlike Alex Tosi in the Tigers – Mariner game who called 14 strikes on balls out of the strike zone for a miserable 75% accuracy rate. How does a clown like him get at plate in a playoff series? Yeah, I know, there are 24 umpires assigned on the playoffs but old Alex shouldn’t be one of them. Or put him on the right field line were he can’t do much damage.
Nice win
You do have a pitch clock now which doesn’t allow the pitcher to take much of a break between pitches. I would think that could be a little more taxing than previously. As a battr he also can’t step out as much to get a little rest.
I wonder why the Dodgers don’t move Teo to Left Field to limit the impact of his poor fielding.
If they had a legit center fielder they could do that. But, they don’t so they can’t.
I asked a question about Shohei’s OPS when he’s pitching and didn’t see an answer here so I did a quick look at the last 5 starts and it would appear he sucks. They won’t bench him of course, but dropping him in the lineup might be a good idea.
Not sure I understand why they couldn’t do that.
When Edman plays center, they move Pages to left when he could easily play right.
Although they might prefer Kike in left to having him play right, he’s still a better right fielder than Teo.
I think it’s just a matter of playing Teo where he’s more comfortable. His defensive stats in left might be even worse.
At least have a different DH against a lefty when he starts
He might be OK with being moved down in the order, but he definitely wouldn’t like it if they told him he wasn’t DHing when he pitches and the other team starts a lefty.
And, therefore, they wouldn’t do it.
Trey Yesavage was the 20th player drafted in 2024. He started his season in Low A (7 games), his first professional experience. Promoted to A+ (4 games), AA (8 games), AAA (6 games), MLB (3 games). 112 IP. He just threw 5.1 innings of no hit baseball against NYY in the ALDS.
Yesavage had a excellent year, but Jackson Ferris had a good year of his own, and Ferris started and ended at AA. Seems strange considering the number of bullpen games OKC pitched down the stretch. Often twice a week. In the last 18 games the starters were:
· Roki Sasaki – 2, before going to the pen
· Kyle Funkhouser – 3
· Landon Knack – 3
· Christian Romero – 3 (up from Great Lakes and stayed)
· Matt Sauer – 1
· Andrew Heaney – 4, openers
· Robinson Ortiz – 1, opener
· Garrett McDaniels – 1, opener
At the end of July, Romero was assigned to OKC from Great Lakes. He was primarily a reliever at Great Lakes and started for OKC. Why not Ferris?
If u had to choose now would u take Michael Busch or Freddie Freeman?
would u trade Michael Busch for Ferris and Hope if u had a do-over? I know the cubs got another pitcher as well but I don’t think he is pitching currently.
i am not advocating just posing a question since u brought up Ferris.
Fair question. First, it was RHRP Yency Almonte who was also included. I will take Freddie 100 times out of 100 over Michael Busch. I would not trade Ferris and Hope for Busch. This should go down as a good trade for both teams.
I have been reading a lot of accolades all over the blogs on Christopher Sánchez (deservedly so) and then about some struggles for Ohtani. Sánchez is an Ace. He is an outstanding pitcher who should be final 3 of the CY. But Ohtani outpitched Sanchez last night.
· Sánchez – 5.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 BB, 8 K, 94 pitches (61 strikes), 23 whiffs
· Ohtani – 6.0 IP, 3 hits 3 runs, 1 BB, 9 K, 89 pitches (60 strikes), 18 whiffs
Of Sánchez’s 8 Ks, 6 were by Ohtani and Teo.
Ohtani gave up the one big double to Realmuto, that Teo turned into a triple. Ohtani should only have allowed 2 runs.
Next, fans were expecting perfection from Tyler Glasnow. He has not relieved since 2018. He had 3.0 IP in the last 13 days. He pitched a solid 7th inning. Did he walk two in the 8th that he should not have? Yes. But he is not alone in the BB department in the LAD organization. This is an organizational issue not just a Glasnow issue. Since Glas was traded to TB in 2018, his BB/9 have been:
· 2018 – 3.1
· 2019 – 2.1
· 2020 – 3.5
· 2021 – 2.8
· 2022 – Did not pitch
· 2023 – 2.8
· 2024 – 2.4
· 2025 – 4.3
Why the big jump? I have my opinion, but it is certainly not well informed. I expect he will be ready to start in Game 4 if needed. He is a much better pitcher at home.