Oct 16-24: Braves have home field advantage in this 7-game series.
Game 1- Another nail biter and grinder in which the Dodgers outhit the braves 10-6 but lost in a walkoff, 3-2. Dodgers had lots of chances to score, but only managed to plate 1 run on 9 hits, in addition to Will Smith’s solo homer. Mookie, coming off a 4-hit game, went 0-4, including hitting into a DP. Trea got 2 hits, and Seager drove him in with a double — for the Dodgers only other run. We all pulled for Pujols, in the Dodgers’ RH dominated lineup, but not to be. With Braves’ starter Fried going 6, and a few more lefties, the Braves kept Belli and Lux on the bench. But in the top of the 9th, tied at 2, Belli got to PH with CT3 on 1B, and he came through with a single. But CT3 did the unthinkable: he tried to take 3B with 2 outs (no-no), and worse, was indecisive so got caught in a run-down. End of inning, end of game, as Braves scored walkoff winner in bottom of the 9th.
Pitching: Dodgers again went with the opener being Knebel. But he surrendered 1 run via a leadoff hit, steal, move by out, then a WP (or passed ball) for a critical run. Bickford in the 2nd and 3rd was good. “Starter” Gonsolin came in the middle of the 3rd. The “Cat” gave up a solo homer to slugger Riley to match Smith’s in the top of the 5th inning, to tie the game at 2. Vesia for the 6th, Kelly the 7th and Jansen for the 8th tossed shutouts. Treinen for the 9th got unlucky on a leadoff blooper hit, but like the 1st, speedy runner easily stole 2B. Slugger Riley came up, after retiring dangerous Freeman for 4th time on a K, and he slugged a thigh high slider into the LF corner for the walkoff.
Game 2- Great start: Seager blasts a 2-run homer just over the RF fence for a quick 2-0 lead. Dodgers get 2 on with 1 out in the 3rd on a hit by Smith, but G Lux pops foul and CT3 K. We can’t keep leaving RISP! Now 2-2 in the 5th, there is some urgency to score. Mookie gets a leadoff walk, but Seager shatters his bat on a popup. Betts steals 2B as Trea K on a full count. Smith IBB. G Lux in the key 5 hole, flies to left. 2 more runners left. Top of 6th, CT3 leads off with a walk (again!), steals 2B and tags on fly by Belli to 3B, But AJ K’s! Beaty to PH, but replaced by Pujols when they bring in a lefty. Albert K’s on a steady diet of curves. yet another RISP left. OK, Dodgers, time to score (7th). Betts leads off with a 10 pitch battle for a walk. Mook steals 2B as Seager K’s. Then Trea K’s on a slider in the dirt. So here comes JT to PH for Lux, so Braves replace LHP with a RHP, who hits JT to load the bases (with no balls hit). CT3 lobs a soft liner to CF that just falls in as CF overruns the ball for a double to score 2 — finally a breakthrough! IBB to Belli to get to AJ with bases re-loaded. AJ K’s (ugh) and leaves them loaded. But now 4-2 in 7th. In 8th, Sousa leads off in pitcher’s spot with a groundout. Mookie grounds to 3B, and Seager long fly out to left. Now tied at 4 in the 9th. Trea leads off with a long fly to deep LF — back goes the fielder and makes the catch up against the wall (drat!). Now Will Smith to face Will Smith! But a K on 5 straight sliders. Barnes PH for Urias, K (ugh). Dodgers go 1-10 RISP, and 10 LOB, with only 4 hits!
Pitching: Scherzer sharp through 3, including 2 K’s of Freddy (for 6 straight by him). But then Max makes a mistake on Joc (Tober) who makes the Dodgers pay big with a 454 ft blast to tie the score at 2 (same as game 1). Roberts pulls Max with 1 out in the 5th after a hit, and brings in Vesia, who gives up a hit to Rosario. Up comes scary Freddy to fan on a change for 2 outs, 2 on. Vesia then K’s Albies! Kelly for the 6th, K’s Riley, gets Joc on a comebacker, Duvall on a fly. Treinen surprise for the 7th, walks leadoff man, buts grounder for a DP! Then a race to the bag on a grounder to Belli at 1B who feeds Blake just in time to end the 7th. Surprise for the 8th: Urias gives up a leadoff hit to Rosario (again), but gets Freddy to fly out to left, with Rosario chancing advancing to 2B. Another hit to RF, Sousa charges and throws a 2-hopper to home to just miss nailing the runner. Now 4-3, with runner at 1B. Oh no Riley up, who lashes another ball to deep CF for a double, scoring the tying run when Seager’s relay skips past Smith (else would have had him out). Go ahead run at 2B with only 1 out, and Joc up, who K’s. Whew! A K to end it tied at 4. Both runners scored on very close plays. Mystery 9th: who pitches? Graterol not Jansen!? Brus gives up a leadoff hit (ugh). Swanson bunts, Brus fields and throws off balance to 2B in the dirt saved by Seager (whew!). Slow grounder to 3B, out at 1B moves winning run to 2B with 2 out. Here comes (finally) Jansen, to save the day? 2nd game in a row with winning run at 2B in 9th. Jansen 1st pitch is a center cut cutter slapped up the middle where Seager was waiting but let the ball get under his glove (can’t happen!) — ballgame. Walkoff back to back. (Sickening.)
Game 3- Dreadful offense yet again, despite same old 1st inning 2-run homer by Seager. then yawn, nothing. Suddenly, Dodgers woke up in the 8th: Will Smith hit, AJ (in Lux’ spot) single up the middle for 2 on, 1 out. Belli swings and misses badly for strike 2 (oh no), then BAM! Belli connects on a high fastball for an unexpected but delightful 3-run homer to … tie the game! It looked like the Dodgers were dead and buried, then Belli ignites them. CT3 follows with a hit, steals 2B, moves to 3B on Beaty grounder. Mookie lines a double to the RF gap scoring CT3 for the 6-5 go ahead. What an 11th hour revival — historic actually for Dodgers in playoff history (down 3 runs). Not done yet, Seager gets IBB, Trea scratches an infield hit to load the bases. But Smith pops up. Dodgers take scary slim 6-5 lead into the 9th — after being dead and buried through 7.
Pitching: Beuhler to start. He fell apart in the 4th, giving up 4 runs, partly on shoddy defense, highlighted by Lux dropping a long fly against the RCF fence that he apparently lost in the sun. Walker was done, and replaced by a parade of Vesia, Bruihl, Kelly, Knebel, Phillips, Gonsolin, and finally Jansen for the save in the 9th. K’s killer Riley looking! Now Jocko with pearls, swings and misses on 95 cheese. On more batter to get: Duvall. Swing and miss! Jansen strikes out the side! We win 6-5! Holy moly.
Game 4- Dodgers go in order in 1st with 2 popups. 2nd G Lux belts a long fly to LCF that would have hit the very top of the wall but was flagged by Duvall. (Cruel irony for Lux.) Out in order in 2nd and again in 3rd — against an opener and starter Smyly. In 4th Seager is 1st baserunner with a walk. Trea another hard hit fly to left for an out. Smith called K. 4-0. Dodgers still no hits into 5th. (I thought they woke up yesterday.) After Lux K on a chase of ball 4, JT gets the 1st hit. Belli corners JT with a hit (and out goes Smyly). CT3 flies to Joc in RF, but too shallow to score the run. AJ PH for Urias. Belli steals 2B (indifferent). AJ punches a hit through the right side to score 2! Wake ’em up! Mookie still not hitting, grounds out to end it at 5-2. 6th, Seager popup, Trea chase K (bad), Smith groundout. Still 5-2 — just like yesterday. 7th inning stretch (take me out to that ballgame!). Pujols leadoff PH single in pitcher’s spot (ex Lux), PR by Buehler (thought it was his day off LOL). F**! JT grounds into DP and pulls up lame with hamie. Belli bombs one to the warning track (only) for the 3rd out — only 6 outs left. JT replaced at 3B by CT3, Betts to CF, in RF comes Sousa. Deja vu 8th has Dodgers again down 5-2. Different result? Not yet: Dodgers out in order in the 8th (and meekly). Now down 7 in 9th — forget about it. Murmur of protest as last out is a long fly by Smith caught on the warning track. Dodgers got only 4 hits again (sad), this time no home runs.
Pitching: Urias gets the start and is good until the 2nd, when he gives up an 0-2 homer to Rosario. (My rule is never throw a hittable pitch 0-2!) Then a back to back solo on a belt high to Duvall. 2-0. 3rd is a struggle too. Center cut fastball to Freddy leaves the yard for 3-0. Hanging curve roped to the RF wall for a triple for hot Rosario. IBB to Duvall to face Joc, who plops a Texas leaguer to CF that Lux did not get to, scoring Rosario for 4-0. Julio finally gets it together for 4th inning and ends it with a K of Freddy. But more trouble in the 5th as a 5th run scores on a sac fly. Urias gone after 5 (5R, 8H). Bickford tosses a nearly clean 6th, ending it on a Freddy groundout. Bickford gets 2 outs in 7th, but is replaced by stats happy Roberts with Bruihl to face LH Rosario, and K’s him on sweeping curves. For the 8th, we get — why Gonsolin? After 1 out, a liner to CF that Gavin Betts tried to shoestring but dropped (error). Fly out ends the 8th at 5-2. Swanson leads off with a hit and steals 2B (again! reviewed because he came off bag, but ruled safe.) Freddy slashes a ground rule double to score 6th run (demoralizing). Stick a fork in Gonsolin (never should have been brought in). Rosario comes up with 3/4 cycle (HR, 3B, 1B) — needs a 2B but hits another homer! Why Gopher Ball Gonsolin indeed!? Now 9-2 and game over. 1st playoff game we gave up more than 5 runs — sad. Our 3 best relievers sat on the bench.
Game 5- Last chance, last game at home for the Dodgers (if they don’t win it’s a shame). Yippee that we get a reversal of last game. Braves score 2 in 1st on another (3rd) homer by hot Freddy. But Dodgers come alive in 2nd, scoring 3 on a pair of homers by resurgent AJ and still hot CT3. Then they add a run in the 4th with same cast of hitters: AJ, Pujols and CT3 all get their 2nd hits for a run: 4-2. Even better, super hot CT3 smashes his 2nd home run for 2 runs and a 6-2 lead. In 5th, Belli gets his 2nd hit and steals 2B with 2 outs. But Roberts inexplicably lets Graterol hit for himself, a K — especially wrong since he lifted him anyway! (What is he saving his bench for?) In 6th, Trea finally on board with a 1-out single, but Seager K (he’s ice cold) and Smith pops up. Dodgers 5-8 hitters are 9-12 with 3 HR’s! 1-4 nothing (could use some help from the top). CT3 comes up as the announcers are talking about what IF he hits his 3rd HR (historic). Then he does it — 3rd bomb! Belli follows with his 3rd hit (13 hits for Dodgers). Beaty PH flies out. 7-2. Mookie leads off with his 1st hit in 3 games in the 8th, and steals 2B. Trea knocks him in with his 3rd hit! Seager follows with his 1st hit (Dodgers 16th!), Smith called K. But wait, there’s more: AJ crushes a 3-0 for his 2nd HR for 3 runs and an unbelievable 11-2 lead (and 17 hits!). CT3 gets another chance for his 4th HR, but fans (that’s OK buddy). Dodgers line is 11-17-0 — for a big statement win.
Pitching: Bullpen game. Joe Kelly the opener, but he gives up a 2-run homer to super hot Freddy to start the game! Then the parade of relievers is stingy: xxx in 2nd, xxx in 3rd, Graterol very efficient in his 2 innings (4-5th), ditto Treinen in 6-7th (a little early). Now 7-2 in 8th, in comes Knebel to rake at 98 and take care of business. Jansen in 9th closes, even with a 9 run lead. (Good thing Roberts saved him for this game LOL.)
POTG easily CT3 with 3 HR, 4 H, 6 RBI, 13 TB. Followed by AJ with 2 HR, 3 H, 4 RBI. 5 dingers in total for this pair.
Game 6- Another elim game. Oh good, Beaty gets a start at 1B so Belli can play CF (not Lux), but Matt only gets 1 AB as Braves bring in LHP so Pujols PH for him. Top of the order out 1-2-3, 4-5 then AJ swats a double but is left. Finally in the 4th, walk to Trea, single by Smith, single by Belli for a solo run, as AJ pops up. 5th sees back to back PH, as Pujols K and Burns (?) grounds out, Mookie K (sad). Getting late, but Dodgers go quietly in 6th on 2 K’s. Only 3 innings left to overcome the 4-1 deficit — come on bats! CT3 leads off with a double off the LF wall. Pitch around Belli for 2 on. Huge: AJ rakes a double to left, scoring CT3 — 4-2 with 2nd and 3rd, no outs. Our best chance to tie the game right now — just need to put the ball in play. Pujols K. PH Souza (really?) K. Mookie K. Put a fork in the Dodgers. Last 2 innings, starting at the top. Seager in the 2 hole K’s (4th straight). Trea bounces out yet again. Smith too. Last chance 9th will see bottom half of order (5-6-7). Good to see CT3 try to bunt for a hit (taking it seriously) — should have got it down, but instead K. Belli K too. Hit the ball! AJ does hit it hard to SS, but Dansby makes a good play to end the game, end the series, end the season (sad).
Pitching: Buehler throwing well enough, but with no command of his curve. Gives up a run in 2nd, but then falls hard in 4th with a PH double (belt high), followed by a 3-run homer to red hot Rosario (game over?) on a belt high fastball (after he fouled off several of those — bad pitch selection). Walker had eschewed his curve and change, and stuck with cutters and fastballs — his undoing. Replaced by Graterol in 5th and again in 6th, until LH Rosario comes up to face Vesia. Walks to Rosario, Freddy and Albies with 2 out. Vesia replaced by Treinen to stop bleeding (I mean walking). Blake masterful K (99) of Riley to end it. Knebel a good 7th. Jansen for the last dance 8th. Gives up a leadoff hit to a PH. Long fly out by Rosario, IBB to Freddy to corner them with 1 out. Albies K, but Dodgers let Freddy take 2B. (I say throw him out!) Kenley killer cutter carves up Riley for a K to end it at 4-2. That 3-run homer by Rosario off Beuhler was the difference.
See you all next year.