Featured ALCS X-Factors
USAT’s Gabe Lux shares the biggest negative factors that could play a key role in the ALCS when the Blue Jays take on the Mariners.
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MILWAUKEE — It’s time for the Los Angeles Dodgers to hit the liquor store and order dozens of cartons of champagne and cases of beer.
They can start putting vinyl on the floor of indoor batting cages.
And yes, we will be able to start selling World Series tickets.
There was no stopping the Dodgers, who overwhelmed the Milwaukee Brewers with a rapid-fire attack into the Midwest, winning 5-1 at American Family Field and taking a 2-0 lead in the first-of-seven National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers can clinch their second consecutive World Series appearance in front of their home fans in the next three games scheduled at Dodger Stadium starting Thursday.
The Dodgers’ rotation is too strong for the Brewers, or anyone else in baseball.
On this night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto did the honors, becoming the Dodgers’ first postseason complete game win since Jose Lima in 2004 and continuing one of the best postseason runs in starting rotation history.
Dodgers starting pitchers have posted a 1.54 ERA this postseason, but only the 1983 Baltimore Orioles (1.31 ERA) had a lower ERA through eight postseason games.
One night, Blake Snell delivered one of the best pitching performances in postseason history, becoming the first pitcher to face the fewest batters through eight innings since Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956. He pitched eight shutout innings, allowing no walks and one hit, striking out 10 batters, and forcing the last 17 batters he faced to retire without leaving a ball in the infield.
In the encore, Yamamoto was hit with a home run on the first pitch by leadoff batter Jackson Chourio, but after that he allowed only two hits.
The Dodgers are the first team to have a pitcher pitch more than eight innings in consecutive postseason games since Orel Hershiser and Tim Belcher in Games 1 and 2 of the 1988 NLCS.
What the Dodgers rotation is doing is ridiculous.
Since August 1, they have posted a 2.73 ERA, an MLB-leading 340 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .195, arguably the best in baseball. His batting average against teams in September was .173, the lowest single month in MLB history, and he has recorded 14 wins and 1 loss and an ERA of 1.52 since September 5th.
This postseason, they just aren’t letting their opponents get up in the air.
“I think we’ve been saying that for about a month now heading into the postseason,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Thanks to our starting pitchers, we were able to play well heading into October. We were always talking about playing our best baseball heading into this postseason. And that started with our pitching staff. There were times when it felt like a no-hitter in the sixth or seventh inning, but everyone did just that.”
“It’s been really great. They seem to feed off each other. And as an offense, we’re just doing our best to support them.”
Oh, what a difference a year makes.
Last October, the Dodgers entered the postseason with just three healthy starting pitchers and relied on four bullpen games in the playoffs.
This year, they have seven healthy starters, with three of them in the bullpen: Emmett Sheehan, Loki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw.
And since their starting pitchers are so dominant, they don’t even need a bullpen.
“When you look at how our bullpen has had to respond in multiple seven-game stretch, it’s hard to sustain that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
So they went the old-fashioned route of relying on their starters and allowing them to get deep into games, and the rest is history.
The World Series begins on October 24th.
The Dodgers will be led by a star-studded rotation.
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Here’s how game two played out.
MILWAUKEE — For the second consecutive inning, the Brewers escaped a bases-loaded predicament.
Robert Gasser hit Mookie Betts to start the inning, and Freddie Freeman followed with a double to center field. The Brewers then intentionally walked Will Smith, leaving the bases loaded with one out.
Gasser struck out Max Muncy and was relieved by Brian Anderson, Milwaukee’s sixth pitcher of the night. Teoscar Hernandez grounded out into a double play, and Houdini got the Brewers out of trouble again.
MILWAUKEE — The Brewers fell to 1-2-3 in yet another inning.
Milwaukee hasn’t had a runner since the 5th inning, and hasn’t had a hit since the 4th inning. There were no infield grounders after the 5th inning.
It’s hard to compete when you can’t put the ball in play.
Tommy Edman hit an RBI single to extend the Dodgers’ advantage to 5-1, but Los Angeles failed to score again after one out and the bases loaded, wasting an opportunity to put the game out of reach.
After Tobias Meyers forced Andy Pages to pop out in foul territory, left-hander Robert Gasser came on and struck out Shohei Ohtani on three pitches, stranding all three runners to end the inning.
Since Yoshinobu Yamamoto hit the leadoff home run in the first inning, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven innings, allowing only two hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. The $325 million pitcher has now pitched eight consecutive innings, throwing 89 pitches, and will likely make his eighth start.
In the top of the seventh inning, Enrique Hernandez led off with a double and advanced to third base on Andy Pages’ sacrifice bunt. Left-handed Aaron Ashby replaced Abner Uribe with an infield hit, and Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI homer to the right infield, increasing the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, with a full count and two outs, Max Muncy hit a solo home run to center field against Freddy Peralta, increasing the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1.
Peralta’s 97th pitch was his last pitch of Game 2, allowing Muncy a home run before being replaced by Abner Uribe. The right-hander pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and four strikeouts, while allowing three earned runs on five hits.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Bryce Turan struck out for the final out after Milwaukee shortstop Joey Ortiz gave up a walk to Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The night after Blake Snell pitched eight innings to win Game 1 for the Dodgers, Yamamoto has only thrown 65 pitches through five games.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been a fixture since Jackson Chourio’s leadoff home run, and has only hit two singles for the Brewers since then.
The Dodgers threatened in the top of the fourth inning with Tommy Edman’s first and second base hit, but Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta struck out Enrique Hernandez and escaped.
The Dodgers took the lead in the top of the second inning with a double by Andy Pages, and Enrique Hernandez scored all the way from first base. Peralta then retired Shohei Ohtani to sit Pages in scoring position.
Los Angeles led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the second inning.
After Jackson Chorio put Milwaukee ahead to take the lead, Teoscar Hernandez hit his fourth home run of the postseason off Freddy Peralta deep in the top of the second inning to tie the game at 1-1.
MILWAUKEE — Jackson Choriot got the Brewers off to a hot start.
Chourio carried Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s first pitch deep into right field, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. This was Chourio’s fourth home run of the postseason, tying him for the team lead with Prince Fielder and Orlando Arcia.
Chourio currently has two of the three leadoff home runs in Brewers history. — Nancy Armor
Brewers ace Freddy Peralta struck out Shohei Ohtani to open the game and walked Mookie Betts, but he hit Freddie Freeman to right field and struck out Will Smith, keeping the first inning at American Family Field scoreless.
MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani will start Game 4 of the NLCS.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made the announcement Tuesday before Game 2 in Milwaukee. Tyler Glasnow will start Game 3 at Dodger Stadium.
Manager Roberts said of his decision, “Shohei can rest. If we need Game 7, we may use him.” “Game 3, we feel like Tyler is resting regularly, so that’s going to get him in shape as well. All of this was to be expected.”
Ohtani made his postseason pitching debut in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies, winning with six innings and nine strikeouts.
Game 3 will be played Thursday in Los Angeles, and Game 4 will be played Friday. — Nancy Armor
MILWAUKEE — Jake Bowers is making decisions for Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy on his behalf.
Bowers started Game 2 a day after becoming one of only two Brewers players to have a hit in Game 1 of the National League CS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“He was as good as any player who swung a bat in September,” Murphy said before Tuesday’s game. “We’re going to sacrifice a little bit and put him in the outfield. And he’s swinging really well, so we’re going to go with that. If you look at his at-bats, it’s just, wow. He’s hitting.”
Bowers batted .383 with two home runs and nine RBIs in the final 21 games of the season. He was used as a pinch hitter on Monday night, but he has reinvigorated the Brewers since returning from a shoulder injury in August.
In the 9th inning of Game 1, Bowers hit a double off Aki Sasaki. It was the first time since the third inning that the Brewers hit the ball from the infield.
“Getting my shoulder healthy is definitely part of it,” Bowers said of the injury he sustained at Impinge a month after the All-Star break. “During my time away from the game, I had time to think about the mental side of the game.
“Maybe you’ll understand a little bit more about how your body works and the positions you need to be in to be successful. And just put a little more emphasis on that instead of just tinkering with your mechanics on a day-to-day basis.”
Going back and forth between the bench and the starting lineup can be difficult for some players, but Bowers has found a way to deal with it. This year, he has started 52 games in both the outfield and first base.
“You can go to the negative side of, ‘Oh, I wish I had been there. I wish I had played.'” Or you can go to the positive side of, ‘Oh, I wish I was playing, I get it.’ I’m ready,” Bowers said.
“I wake up in the morning and as often as I can, I try to make a conscious decision to pick the team that gives me the best chance. It’s telling myself that I can see the ball well, telling myself that I’m feeling good, telling myself that I’m going to be ready regardless of when my last at-bat was,” he said. “I think that sets the tone for the day and puts me in a good position.” — Nancy Armor
- Shohei Oriya (left) D
- Mookie Betts(R) SS
- Freddie Freeman (left) 1B
- Will Smith(R)C
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Teoscar Hernandez (R) RF
- Tommy Edman(S) 2B
- Enrique Hernandez (R) LF
- Andy Pages(R) CF
- Jackson Chorio(R) RF
- Bryce Turan (L) 2B
- William Contreras (R) c
- Christian Yelich (l) D
- Andrew Vaughan (R) 1B
- Sal Frerick (left) CF
- Caleb Durbin(R) 3B
- Jake Bowers (left) LF
- Joey Ortiz (R) SS
The schedule for the first appearance is 8:08 p.m. In Milwaukee.
