What is there to say about the LAD starting pitching. It is unparalleled in today’s MLB. A night after Blake Snell’s 8 inning 1 hit gem, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched one of his own. He spun a 3-hit complete game victory. Yama gave up a HR on his first pitch to Jackson Chourio, and proceeded to shut down Milwaukee from that point forward. Brice Turang and Sal Frelick hit opposite field singles, but never got to scoring position.
Yama struck out 7 and was never in danger. Did not pitch in any stress the entire game. He threw 111 pitches, 81 for strikes for a 73% strike rate. 70% 1st pitch strikes!
Yama had 15 swings and misses. He has had better starts with the swing and miss, but this start was special. He retired the final 14 Brewers hitters to finish the complete game.
José Lima was the last Dodger pitcher to pitch a complete game in the post season. His complete game was a 4-0 shutout victory against St. Louis on October 9, 2004.
Question that I did think about, did Doc let Yama go for the complete game because of what transpired with the bullpen in Game 1?
The Dodgers had 11 hits including 2 HRs (Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy). Teo’s HR in the 2nd tied the score at 1-1, and Muncy’s gave LAD a 3-1 lead. This was Teo’s 4th HR of the post season.
After the game, Max said he thought that Frelick caught the ball. But this one went 412 feet, and Frelick was too close to the wall and jumped into the wall instead of over it. Max now stands alone as the #1 LAD HR hitter in the playoffs with 14. He has broken the tie with Corey Seager and Justin Turner.
LAD also had 4 doubles: Andy Pages, Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández, and Freddie Freeman. Pages 2nd inning double was a big one as he brought home Kiké, for the 2nd run and the lead they would not relinquish.
Shohei struck out 3 times but did roll an RBI single into RF, with the infield in to plate Kiké Hernández for a 4-1 lead. He left 4 runners on base, including 3 in scoring position.
LAD was 2-11 wRISP. Shohei singled home Kike’ from 3rd in the 7th, for a 4-1 lead. In the 8th, Tommy Edman singled home Will Smith for a 5-1 lead. But they left the bases loaded with one out in the 8th and the bases loaded with no outs in the 9th.
October Kiké, Tommy Edman, and Tesocar each had 2 hits. October Kiké has 4 hits in the 2 NLCS games, Tommy Edman, Will Smith, and Freddie Freeman have 3 hits in the 2 NLCS games.
If it were not for the incredible starting pitching, we would be complaining about the lack of clutch hitting. The Dodgers are 3-21 wRISP in the 2 games, but still won 2 games on the road. They come back to Los Angeles and will try to wrap it up. It appears that Tyler Glasnow will be starting Game 3 while Ohtani is slated to start Game 4. I do not know why this was such a big secret. Ohtani was only going to pitch one game in the NLCS, and Glasnow will now be in position to come back for Game 7 if necessary.
Glasnow and Ohtani have big shoes to fill. The Brewers really have 2 starters, Freddie Peralta and Quinn Priester, and Quinn is a bulk pitcher. I imagine LHP Jose Quintana will start Game 3 with Jacob Misiorowski ready to piggyback. Quintana has pitched very well against the Dodgers over the years. He has started 12 games and relieved in 3. He has an ERA of 2.32 over 73.2 IP.
Shohei is still swinging at pitches he has no shot at hitting. He is becoming increasingly difficult to watch. If he had any K-zone discipline, he would be 10 times more dangerous at the plate. He is too polite, bails on almost every inside pitch, and keeps swinging ala Bellinger at those low outside pitches. Team wise, they had a good game and a good plan. They head home up 2-0. No way the Brewers take this series.
Yams with a gem. It was his first complete game in MLB and a very well-timed one. It was also the Dodgers’ first in the postseason since 2004 (Jose Lima) and the first by any MLB pitcher in the postseason since 2017 (Justin Verlander).
Roberts sometimes acts as if complete games violate the rules. It was good to see Yamamoto get one.
I have a feeling the Brewers may start with Misirowowski in game 3. They are in the last chance saloon, and he is their best pitcher.
Snell and Yamamoto have been stellar. To be able to follow them up with Glasnow and Ohtani is daunting for any opponent, knowing that Snell and Yamamoto are both available again should they be needed.
It’s mad because our offensive play really isn’t that good currently. As Jeff points out our hitting WRISP is pedestrian, and the potential Achilles Heel of our ropey Bullpen is being masked by our Starters suddenly going 8 or more innings.
Having Will in the lineup gives it so much more length.
Was thinking about Michael Conforto and how he must be feeling. To struggle all season only to find his stroke in the last 6 weeks, to then be blanked completely in the Post Season. Very strange.
Gotta feeling the Blue Jays aren’t done yet.
Snell would pitch game five. Not a pleasant prospect for the Brewers.
I suspect that Roberts must have learned from his mistake in pulling Snell from his masterpiece. And why not give Yamamoto his complete-game flowers?
The only thing that prevented a tie (and perhaps a loss) in the previous game was Turang’s quick and misguided reflexes in avoiding Treinen’s too-inside pitch.
I’m sure I’m not the only fan who is frustrated by the way the Dodgers often manage the pitching staff. Yes, we are decades removed from the practice of over-using Koufax and Fernando, but it seems to me that under-using pitchers is a problem too.
We’ve often the Dodgers will pull a starting pitcher even when he’s on a roll. They’ll set a pitch limit or innings limit and stick to it. Then they (Roberts and his advisors) will typically roll out a new reliever each inning, regardless of pitch count. “One and done,” as they say. But if Jack Dreyer, say, shuts down three batters on a dozen pitches, why take him out to start the next inning? Why risk handing the ball to a pitcher who may not be as sharp?
During the post-game interviews the other day, Roberts talked about how Treinen’s high-wire save should help his “confidence.” But it was split-second and a few millimeters from disaster.
Huge difference in pitch count. Yoshi was below 100 to start the 9th. Snell was at 103 after 8. The rule of thumb is that most pitchers lose effectiveness around 100 pitches, which is why not many are allowed to go beyond that. Yoshi, who pitched in the Japanese league was allowed to throw well over that number by his coaches and manager. As for Koufax, he wasn’t overused. He was used the way they used pitchers then. You finished what you started. In his perfect game against the Cubs, he threw 113 pitches. By today’s standards he was over his limit. When he no-hit the Phillies in 1964 he threw 97 pitches, his 63 no-hitter, 111 and in 62, against the Mets, he threw 138 pitches. He walked 5 and struck out 13. 80 of his pitches were strikes. By contrast, Beckett threw 128 when he no-hit the Phillies, and Kersh threw just 107 in his gem against the Rockies.