Dr Jeff Sports blog

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.

Oct 9-14: This is it. The old bitter rivalry revisited.

Game 1- Logan Webb vs. Buehler. Mookie starts off on the right foot by hitting sharply to the 4 hole for a hit. Seager is on by FC and works his way around to 3B, but is left when JT hits it hard up the middle but it catches Webb’s foot, gets ball knocked down, picked up and JT is thrown out. Then the next 6 go out in order, so 0 runs after 3. 4th Seager leads off with a swinging bunt single. Trea K. JT grounds into a spectacular DP 4-6-3. Smith leads off the 5th with a single, Beaty forces him, Belli long fly out, AJ K on a change — ugh. 6th Buehler leads off with a whiff (a bit of a surprise Walker hits). Seager finally gets a hit — a 2-out double. Trea another K. Dodgers look foolish, and are perishing. Will Smith ropes a 1-out double. Beaty and Belli swing and miss K’s on low sinkers — why swing at those? End of 7th with goose eggs. Dodgers’ bats sleeping as they come to bat in the 8th against crafty Webb. AJ and PH Lux hit dribblers for 2 outs. Mookie gets a pitch up and bangs a single to chase Webb. Last chance for Dodgers to avoid a shutout, let alone win, down 4-0. Heart of order coming up 3-4-5. Trea should bunt for a hit (why not?), but flies out meekly. JT check swing K. Smith pops up — shutout confirmed (sad!). Lose 4-0. Only 3 players got hits, 5 hits total (sad). We’ll likely see some lineup changes for game 2: with lefty going, Pujols at 1B and CT3 in CF (I predict).

Pitching: Buehler not a good start, as he gives up a walk and later a McCovey Cove 2-run blast by old nemesis Posey. Why do the Dodgers continue to pitch Posey high fastballs when he feasts on those (same as for JT, Muncy and Will Smith)? 2-0 after only 1. Buehler not yet in command of his best stuff but getting by. 2-0 after 3, then 4 (hit by Bryant is all). 5th another 1-hit inning. 6th side in order for 1st time. 7th Buehler feeds Bryant a center cut fastball and gone for 3rd run — a big run — to chase him. (Bryant already had 2 hits, so Walker should have been more careful.) In comes Bazooka Graterol, who rifles an easy 101 to K Webb and end the 7th at 3-0. Vesia in for the 8th, starts with a K. Flores skies a loud foul homer, then K’s (usually happens). Vesia serves up a curve into BC’s happy zone (he hit a long fly in 1st AB on a similar curve) for a nail-in-the-coffin homer for 4-0 (goodnight). Bickford gets Posey to ground out to end it. Giants out homer Dodgers 3-0.

Game 2- Lineup changes: Only CT3 for Beaty, but Belli stays (1B) — why? Mookie leadoff walk and steals 2B (yay). but stays there as Seager K’s (splitter), Turner and Turner fly out. Gausman spits out his gum before being checked by ump. Smith leadoff 109 laser snared off palm of glove by SS BCraw who holds onto it. CT3 ropes a double to the gap (right where he left off). Belli chases for a K. AJ gets IBB, to bring up Urias (a good hitter — tied for 1st in NL with 9 RBI). Wow! Julio gets a liner hit and drives in CT3 for 1-0. Mookie rockets another RBI hit for 2-0. Seager another splitter K. Dodgers seem to score runs for Urias (good thing). Dodgers get 2 more crooked numbers: 4 in a big 5th on a pair of big doubles by Belli (bases loaded) and AJ; and 3 more in the 7th on a homer by Smith, an RBI shift beat hit by PH Beaty, and another RBI single.

Pitching: 20-gamer Urias (Cy Young?) takes the hill. Julio has a Ruf start battling leadoff but gets a K call on a well located fastball. Next battling Briant: popup. Slater: 1st pitch center cut change pummeled for a double. Problem Posey: K on great pitches (nothing in the zone). no score after 1. Urias gave up a run on a double and sac fly in the 3rd, but that was all through 5.1 innings (1R, 3H). Kelly gave up a run in the 6th. Vesia, Graterol and Bickford finished the game giving up no runs.

So Dodgers win the must win game 2 by 9-2.

Game 3- I’m in attendance and getting blown away by the wind (holding onto my hat). The wind was the major story in this game: knocking down several long balls for each team that might otherwise have left the park. Without the wind, the score might have 5-3 Dodgers. As it was, Dodgers out hit the Giants 5-3. In fact, after Scherzer threw a great 7 (1R, 3H, 10K), Dodgers bullpen pitched a perfect 8th (Treinen) and 9th (Jansen). Should have been good enough to easily win, but due to a series of unfortunate plays Dodgers did not score — at all! 2nd shutout in 3 games (yech). Giants 1, Dodgers 0.

Game 4- Now a must win (or go home). Lineup changes: Lux for AJ (questionable), and Lux in CF instead of Taylor, who’s in left (more questionable); Belli at 1B for Pujols or Beaty. Smith moved up into 4 hole (was 8th last night), dropping JT down to 5th (not hitting so well). Mookie leads off with a long fly out, but Seager does well to go the other way for a hit. Trea lashes a hit to the RCF wall and scores Seager from 1B (yay). G Lux leads off 2nd with a banged hit. 7 hole find Belli, who repeats Lux’s hit and drives him to 3B to corner them with no outs. CT3 in a big spot, blasts a long sac fly to left, scoring Lux and moving up Belli for 2-0. Walker K’s, now Mookie with 2 outs hits a hard grounder to the 6 hole knocked down by BCraw to re-corner runners, as Belli holds at 3B. Giants starter DiSclafani is replaced (2nd inning!). Seager now in a big spot vs. a new pitcher, swings at a high pitch and flies out — still 2-0. New pitcher Castro gets Trea, but walks Smith and JT, then is replaced by LHP Garcia to face LH Lux and Belli. Lux also walks to load bases with 1 out. Belli in a big spot bounces meekly into a force at home. Now up to CT3 in 8 hole, and he works count full: CT bashes a deep fly to left and is robbed against the fence (darn it!). Lucky Giants keep it 2-0, as cold air kept that in the park (else a grand slam and game over). Walker leads off with an infield hit off pitcher. In Mookie’s 3rd AB he drills a ball into RF pavilion for 2-run homer — huge! Seager bangs a grounder to 1B for 1st out, causes a double switch. Trea K, Smith rips a double down the LF line, but stranded by JT fly out. 4-0. 5th hits by Lux and Belli again to corners, but CT3 bounces into rundown of Lux, leaving 1st and 2nd with 1 out. PH Souza walks (!) to load bases, Mookie long sac fly for 5-1. 6th Trea gets infield hit. But Smith and JT leave him. Side out in order on 3K’s in 7th. 8th, Seager leadoff hit, Trea long fly out. Will goes Bambino! Huge 2-run homer for 7-2 (yes!). Last man up is PH Pujols (crowd goes wild). Tio Albert flies out.

Pitching: Buehler on 3 days rest throws a very efficient 1st on only 11 pitches. Gets Posey to pop up, but gives up a hit to Bryant on a cookie. Followed by another hit on a mistake to corner runners with 1 out. Yay, gets K on good slider to Longoria. Lucky liner by Yaz down RF line was foul, then lucky again a fastball was lined to 2B, so no runs. 3rd leads off with PH Dickerson whom Buehler punches out on high cheese (96). LaStella flies out, xx K’s on a good slider. no runs through 3. Only 2-0, Buehler now has to go to work, and K’s BCraw, then faces Posey who smashes a 1-hopper to SS (good hands by Seager). Bryant walks on 4. LaMonte grounds out into shift. 2-0 then 4-0. 5th, Longo leadoff hit, then lineout to Betts in RF. Buehler struggling a bit now, walks Dugger on a close call, then Roberts pulls him (OK, this is a BIG game!), and brings in Kelly. Giants work for 1 run. 6th, Graterol escapes with 1 hit by hot Bryant. 5-1. 7th Vesia gets 2 outs, infield hit, relieved by Treinen who gets the final out a K. Treinen in 8th gives a leadoff double to BCraw on an elevated curve — BCraw feasts on those (bad pitch after a great curve that was missed). Crawford scores on a Bryant ground out for 5-2. Treinen nasty to PH for a K looking. 5-2 after 8. Jansen was for the 9th, but now that it is 7-2, Bickford is sent in to close, and he needs to slam the door on this one — and he does.

Dodgers win 7-2 to force a decisive game 5 at San Francisco — just as it should be. Both teams with franchise record 109 wins, and it comes down to ONE final game — seriously.

Game 5- For all the marbles, all hands on deck, there is no tomorrow. The game was an unbelievable dogfight, a grinder — no score through 5. Mookie led off with a roped single, and ended up going 4-4. Seager ripped one the other way but caught by the LFx. Good start, but then Trea grounded into a DP (and went 0-fer). Will Smith and JT also went hitless. Dodgers finally score 1 in the 6th, on a Mookie hit and a steal of 2B, followed by an RBI double to left by Seager. But Giants answer back immediately in bottom of inning with a 450-ft home run by Ruf on a 3-2 fastball down the middle (mistake by Urias). In the 8th, AJ PH infield bouncer for a hit, followed by Mookie grounder up the middle for another hit, but they were stranded by Seager on a K and Trea on fly out.

Tied 1-1 into the 9th, when the Dodgers squeak out another run: JT HBP, G Lux single, Belli single to score JT with winning run. With runners at the corners and 1 out, CT3 tries to bunt for a safety squeeze but pops it up. Then Beaty PH to ground out to 1B. 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th holds up for the win!

Pitching: Great plan to go with a pair of “openers”: Knebel for the 1st, Graterol for the 2nd. Then bring in Urias for the middle innings. Julio pitched great, but made a mistake to groove a 3-2 fastball to Ruf. Dodgers went with high leverage relief: Treinen in the 7th, Jansen in the 8th — both pitched great. But that left a hole for the rave9th. Enter Max Scherzer (on only 2 days test). He gets a fly out to left by BCraw, a Bryant grounder bobbled by JT at 3B for an error. (Some thought that signaled doom.) A called K on a great slider — 1 more out to get. Max gets ahead of Wilmer Flores 0-2, then hurls a slider for a check swing — but the 1B ump surprisingly calls a swing for strike 3! (Bad call, but Dodgers probably would have won anyway.)

Dodgers hold on to win 2-1 to advance to the NLCS vs. Braves and end the Giants magical season (at 109 wins).

Oct 6: Win or go home! Dodgers going with a 1-game roster of only 10 pitchers and 16 position players. They added a bunch of minor leaguers and left off pitchers Buehler, Price and Bruihl. Dodgers get a huge walkoff win! One mistake would have ended the game and the season — for one of the teams. Thankfully the Dodgers didn’t blink: the bullpen shut out the Cards.

Pitching: Scherzer starts for the Dodgers, and has a challenging 1st: leadoff scratch hit, stolen base (not held on, and lousy throw by Smith), walk, fly foul out to Betts, runner tagging to 3B, and then scores on a WP (crap!). Fortunately Dodgers got out of that mess with only the 1 run. Max creates another mess by walking the #8 hitter, bunted over to 2B (Max went to a full count first). But a fly out ends it. Still 1-0. 3rd leadoff hit by Goldy on a full count cookie, then a K on a slider. Force out at 2B on a good play by Beaty, then another good play by Beaty to snag a grounder to end it. Still 1-0. 4th is nearly clean for Maxx, with only a HBP. 5th, with Max at a high pitch count over 80, suffers a broken bat doinker by leadoff hitter again. Walk to Goldy, so 2 on. great K on cheese. Now — oh no — Roberts pulls Scherzer (94 pitches)! You can’t be serious! This move will be heavily criticized. Kelly in, and gets Arrenado to bounce to JT for a force at 3B. Count full, Kelly gets a swing and miss on a slow curve to save the inning at 1-1. 5th out in order, including K’s by Belli and PH Raley (what a waste of an AB). 6th is clean save a HBP for Graterol. 7th is top of order so we get Treinen, who allows a runner to reach 2B, but gets Arrenado to popup foul. Still 1-1. 8th Treinen still in. Leadoff hit beats the shift. Fly ball caught starts an appeal play: looked like the runner failed to re-touch 2B returning to 1B, but appeal denied. Another soft liner to LFx is caught on a diving catch by CT3 for 2nd out. Knebel relieves and K’s on a nasty curve to end the 8th. Jansen gives up yet another leadoff hit to Pesky Edman, who of course steals 2B (bad combo of Jansen slow to the plate and Smith bad throws) — representing go ahead run. Kenley strikes out the side to end the big drama!

Mookie leadoff hit (looked like maybe an error). Seager K looking (swing!) Trea liner at SS who drops it at his toes and gets force at 2B. Trea should run! JT lines one flagged by pitcher. 3 hard hit balls with nothing to show (rats!). 1-0 Cards. Smith leadoff hard grounder up the middle turned into another out (ugh!). AJ pops up. Beaty warning track fly out. 3rd leadoff walk to Belli, sac bunt to 2B. Mookie a looping liner knocked down for a hit — 1st and 2nd 1 out. Seager walk to load bases for Trea. Count full, Trea reaches for an outside curve and hits it — oh no — right to 2B for a DP (ugh!). The only place he could hit into a DP. No runs! Still 1-0. JT leads off the 4th with — hold it — a big blast deep into the LF bullpen to tie the game at 1! Smith and AJ K, Beaty pops up. 6th no runs. 7th Beaty hits into shift for out. Belli gets a hit! CT3 (double switched in for AJ) pops up. Belli steals 2B. Mookie flies out to end it. Seager leads off the 8th and K swinging. Yay Trea singles sharply. JT chases the bait for a K. Will ropes it over the SS head but he leaps and snags it (pooh!). And we go to the 9th tied at 1. Somebody please hit a walkoff! Pujols for the leadoff PH smacks a 3-0 at-em laser for 1st out. Back to back PH with Sousa, same at-em out to CF. Belli is our last chance to end it, and he walks, steals 2B. Up comes CT3, who takes some pitches to let Belli steal. and then … OMG a long fly to deep LF, way back and gone! A walkoff HR by CT3! Yay Dodgers! Now on to San Francisco to take on the Giants.

1. Dodgers tie all-time wins at 106 (matching 2019), but end their 8-season division title streak (to no fault of theirs)
2. Dodgers hit 11 grand slams — most ever.
3. Urias gets 20 wins — most by a Dodger since Kershaw in 2013
4. Trea Turner gets NL batting crown and led NL in steals too — first by a Dodger in either since way back.
5. Muncy led team with career best 36 home runs (after 2 seasons of 35). Others with 20+: JT 27, Will Smith 25, Trea 25, Mookie 21 (CT3 19, and Seager would have too.)
6. Dodgers have 3 legit candidates for Cy Young: Scherzer, Buehler and Urias
7. Off years, led by Belli, then Mookie. Gavin Lux (until final month).

Oct 1-3: Last series of the year — critical to sweep to have any chance to catch the Giants.

Game 1- Good start with yet another solo HR in the 1st, this time by Trea (extends hitting streak). 1-0 after 1, but it disintegrates on the mound as Brewers take a 5-1 lead after only 3. The Dodgers seem to once again settle in to mediocrity — doesn’t look like they want to win this game. Finally some traffic in the 5th, as PH Pujols drills an infield hit to get 2 on, 1 out for Mookie, who singles to load the bases for red hot Seager, but alas a popup (pooh!). Then whoa! A 1st pitch ambush grand salami by Trea (2nd dinger of the game). Game tied at 5 in the 5th! Leading off the 7th as a PH for pitcher, our hero Matt Beaty homers to take the lead 6-5! Betts HBP (a tailer, but wish he just got out of the way). Seager walks, runners move up on WP. Trea walks to load bases. Another WP to plate 7th run. JT ground out. Muncy smashes infield hit to score Seager for 8-5 (and Max’s 93 RBI). AJ bounces out.

Pitching: Kershaw is pitching batting practice in the 2nd. Every pitch is center cut, and thus getting hit hard. 3 runs on 4 hits in the 2nd alone. and oh no! Kersh is pulled after 1.2 innings. I’m gonna guess a stiff back, since his pitches are all elevated. Graterol 1-pitches the inning ender, and comes back for the 3rd. But they keep calling for breaking pitches when they should be using the “Bazooka” at 100+. So Brus gives up a run scoring double on a hanging curve (ugh): 4-1. Ugh, yet another curve gets hit up the middle to plate the 5th run. They can’t hit the fastball — go with his strength! Vesia replaces Grat and gets a strike-em-out throw-em-out DP to end the 3rd at 5-1.

But Trea injures his hand on the tag. Seems none of the Dodgers make tags correctly, least of all Trea, who starts being too far off the bag. Then one has to decide which way the runner is coming in: if head 1st, then block the bag; it feet 1st, make a swipe tag and get one’s hand out of the way of the cleats. Trea held his glove down and let the runner cleat him (not such a good idea).

Game 2– Must win, as Giants have already clinched a tie, and lost today. Mookie pops up. Seager out, but Trea extends his hitting streak with a single. Muncy walks. JT blasts a 3-run homer (his 27th– F-ing yeah! Keep pitching him in, thank you.) 3-1 after 1.

Vesia continue to throw well and sets them down in the 4th. Evan Phillips for the 5th (throwing in the towel?). Sweet backhand ole snag of a 1-hopper by good hands JT at 3B — helps retire side in 5th. Bro Bruihl for a clean 6th in a tie game. Treinen in early in the 7th — must be a high leverage sit. Jam job broken bat grounder handled by Seager. K for out 2 on a filthy curve. Single on a jammer. Bounce out — end of 7th. Top of 8th, 8-5, in comes Kelly, who walks leadoff Yeli. Called K on a borderline curve, as Yeli steals 2B without a throw. 2nd K on a 98. PH Vogelbach a monster, gets count to 2-2. I wanted a heater but Kelly dishes a hanger for an RBI hit (boo). Lead cut to 8-6. Jansen enters the 8th for a 4-out save — and does just that. Dodgers hold on to win this critical game 8-6.

Pitching: Urias starts well, but walks 2nd batter, gives up a double on a center cut curve, and Brews score 1 on a groundout. AJ makes a fine catch on a foul fly, as he leans over the LF foul fence for the grab. AJ is one of the few Dodgers who know how to “find the fence” (although could have been better). Urias 1-2-3- in 2nd.

Game 3- How fun that the results of the whole season is in play on game 162. Seager strokes a 1-out hit. But Trea GIDP. JT starts the 2nd by raking the ball to CF but flagged by JB Jr., then 3 flies up. 7-8-9 in the 3rd goes out in order. Seager a hit in 4th, but that’s all. 5th, walks to Smith and CT3 with 2 out, Beaty PH infield hit to load the bases for Mookie. (Beaty PH for Buehler!) Walk in a run. Another infield hit for Seager (his 3rd) for 2nd run. Trea works count full, then … are you serious? A grand slam! Ballgame on one swing. Trea’s ties grand slam record with 2 straight games. Boom: 6-1 Dodgers. 6th Pujols ropes one flagged in LF, followed by a Smith double. AJ grounds out and moves Smith to 3B. CT3 walks to corner runners. Beaty up for 2nd time singles for an RBI and 7-1. Attack of the B’s: new Brewers pitcher is a triple B: Brian Boxberger to face Betts, who bangs a 1-hopper for last out. Wait, there’s more: Beaty batters a 3-run homer (his 3rd hit) for 10-3 and the win.

Pitching: Buehler off to a hot start with K the side. Then 2 more K’s in 2nd. But Walker hangs and he bangs — a double. But swing and miss K for 3rd out. Sad 3rd: Muncy badly injured wrist when run into by baserunner inside the foul line (called out for interference). Inning ends with a hit robbery by Trea with shoestring catch by Pujols at 1B (replaced Muncy). 4th Buehler gets in big trouble: back to back doubles, then a HBP. Timely K on a nasty curve. Fly out. K. Damage limited to 1 run: 1-0. Walker a clean 5th, ends with his 11th K! Walker out of game, lifted for PH, after only 79 pitches! (Maybe because the Giants went up 9-1.) Also, Roberts rests JT, moving CT3 to 3B and Belli to CF. Bickford for the 6th. After 1 out, CT3 now at 3B throws badly to 1B for an error (Pujols makes a great diving save). With 2 outs, Bickford replaced by rookie Bruihl, who gets the final out. Bullpen gives up 2 runs in the 8th, for 7-3. Lux replaces Seager at SS, then moves to RF for Betts (!), Beaty stayed in the game at 3B (oy).

Sep28-30: Final week, last 2 series. Gotta sweep both. Will the Padres lay down for us or for the Giants?

Game 1- Dodgers face old friend Yu Darvish. Leadoff back to near back doubles by Mookie and Trea, to score 1. Trea advances to 3B, but then gets in a rundown half way to home on a grounder to 1B by Muncy — another running blunder by Trea (should have stayed at 3B). Dodgers get lucky though when Manny throws a slider into RF after tagging out Trea, and Muncy goes to 3B anyway. 2nd, JT leadoff walk, AJ out, G Lux hit. Buehler to sac bunt, but appears reluctant and takes a K (bad AB). Mookie swings 3-0 for a foul (not sure I like that), then takes a walk to load ’em up. Seager in a big AB flies to CF, leaving 3 on. 3rd, Trea leadoff infield hit, JT gets his 2nd walk, and AJ comes through again with a long single to plate Trea. Pads IBB G Lux to lead ’em up again, only to have Buehler K again to end it. (7 LOB through 3!) 2-0. 5th, Muncy leadoff walk. Smith K looking. JT long lash caught in RF. WP Max to 2B — RISP. AJ (BA at .300), gets pitched around for a walk. 2 on, 2 outs for G Lux, who chases a high one and flies meekly to LF (10 LOB). 6th, Seager walks with 2 outs, and Trea gets his 3rd hit. Muncy again leaves him on — on a K. Dodgers get 1 on in 8th, and a surprise PH by Belli for 3rd out on a grounder. Trea got half the Dodgers’ hits and was the only one to score. The rest of the team not hitting, except Lux. Dodgers left minions LOB and RISP — exasperating waste of opps.

Pitching: Hoping Buehler is back — and he is. No hits through 4, then an infield hit in the 5th, erased on a DP. 6th Buehler gets 2 on, 1 out, then another around the horn DP. Still 2-0. Walker still in there in the 7th. Gives up an oppo chopper down 3B line for a double after Trea misses the tag (did 2 things wrong), but makes up for it with an over the shoulder catch of a popup. Buehler great 7: 0R, 3H. Kelly dominant 8th. Treinen makes one mistake — belt high to killer Cronenworth for a solo splash. Now a 2-1 nail biter. Treinen makes an outstanding pitch to K PH to end the game — a 2-1 win.

Game 2- With Scherzer on the hill one would expect another low-scoring game, but a slugfest breaks out. Dodgers score a whopping 4 in the 1st, on a pair of doubles, single, and 2-run homer by hot AJ. They tack on an additional run in the 2nd on another Seager double to drive in Mookie. But then the Padres unexpectedly come back on 2 homers to cut the lead to 5-3. Then 5-5 in the 4th, when the Dodgers go 1-2-3 (after unexpectedly letting Scherzer hit for himself — mistake methinks), and go in order again in the 5th. Infield hit by CT3 in the 6th stranded by Belli K (fans on yet another high fastball) and Pujols PH fly out.

Down 4 in the 7th, Mookie hits his longest home run of the season (421 ft) for a solo run. Down 3 with 2 to go. (And since the Giants won 1-0, looking grim.) Rinse and repeat in the 8th: Muncy hits a solo HR, for 9-7. But wait, there’s more: AJ blasts a solo too, for his 2nd HR of the game, for 9-8. Next, CT3 just misses it for long fly out. Oh My: ice cold Belli goes yard too (1st since Aug 12) — 4th solo HR in last inning+ — to tie the game at 9! Not done yet: JT PH double off the LF wall. Wait, there’s even more: Seager belts a 2-run HR for the 4th of the inning and an 11-9 lead! Who put ginger in the Dodgers’ tea party? Wham bam! Craziest game of the year? And not over yet.

Pitching: Scherzer sails through 2, but gets roughed up in the 3rd for 3 runs on 2 home runs (uncharacteristic). His pitches getting too much of the middle of the zone with not enough movement. Max Scherzer getting hit hard again in the 4th, giving up 4 hits (season high 9 total and only 1 K) but saved by a strike-em-out, throw-em-out DP (in spite of Smith’s throw tailing badly again). Still smacked for a ground rule double scores the 4th run, to make it only 5-4. Compounded by 2 bad Dodger errors on grounders, the 2nd one by Seager allowing the tying 5th run to cross. Max lost his command completely, and looks done — stick a fork in him (and the Dodgers). Ugly 5-5 tie through top of 4th. Max finally gets it back for a clean 5th. But gets hit hard again in the 6th, capped by a long triple for a run to CF that Lux should have caught — it landed in his glove but bounced out when he looked for the fence too late. Gotta look for the fence early, find it, then catch the ball. Now Lux is hurt too (not just his pride) since he is not schooled in the art of “find the fence” (poor guy).

Padres take the lead in the 6th 6-5 (ugh). Graterol finally makes an appearance in the 7th, but is done in by horrible pitch calling: Grat hit 101-102 with heaters on the corners (unhittable), but they have him follow with curves that he can’t control for 2 walks, and then 2 hangers for 3 runs! Game over at 9-5. Adding insult, Padres steal 2B on yet another bad tailing throw down by Smith (doesn’t he practice?). Then adding more insult, Smith gets crossed up on a high fastball for strike 3 that nails the plate umpire square in the mask. What high school is this? Price settles things down in a 1-2-3 8th. Jansen for the save in the 9th K’s the side on 10 pitches — unbelievable!

Game 3- Can’t top last night’s game, but here we go, right where we left off: leadoff back-to-back homers by Betts and Seager. That makes it 7 HR’s in last 11 AB’s! (Is that a record?) Trea gets a hit (16 straight games) but is caught stealing. 2-0 after 1. 1-2-3 in 2nd. Red hot Seager gets a 2-out double in the 3rd, but Trea flies out: 2-1. Dodgers’ home run derby continues in the 4th with 2nd pair of back-to-back homers, this time by JT and AJ (how alphabetic): 4-1. (All 5 runs in game via solo HR’s.) After a 1-2-3 5th, Dodgers score 3 in the 6th on a Trea infield hit, Smith and JT RBI singles, AJ sac fly, Belli RBI single: 7-3. In the 7th, super hot Seager goes yard again for his 2nd solo — last night he had 2 2B, HR; tonight 1 2B, 2 HR. 8-3.

Pitching: Catman Gonsolin starting and is good through 1. But Tony living in the middle of the zone too much and gives up a solo on a center-cut fastball. Then walks the pitcher (stupid to throw curves to him). But gets Tatis to end it at 2-1 after 2. 1-2-3 in 3rd. Tony tosses a good 4th, but serves up a gopher ball to NL HR leader Tatis who pummels it 467 ft on top of the LF pavilion roof! Gonso leaves in the 5th, up 4-3, replaced by Graterol (what is Roberts thinking?). Knebel goes a clean 6th, but in the 7th gives a walk and is replaced by Kelly, who walks Tatis but K’s Manny. Evan Phillips hurls a clean 8th, and does same in the 9th.

Dodgers win 8-3. Sweep the Padres (for the 3rd straight time!). Win #103, to keep pace with Giants (still 2 back). Dodgers hit 5 HR’s tonight, after 6 last night = 11 total in 2 games. Seager and AJ hit 3 each.

Sep 28-30: Dodgers face their new nemesis Pads in a critical series with only 6 games left and 2 games back of the Giants.

Sep 24-26: Dodgers return to play their cousins whom they should beat like a drum. Dodgers need a sweep.

Game 1- Betts leadoff hit, Seager BB, but TT hits into DP in the 1st. Will Smith leads off 2nd with a double (19th), driven in by a nifty slash hit by JT. Boy are we happy to have AJ back: he clobbers one deep into the LF bleachers for a 3-0 lead. In this inning, even pitcher Gonsolin gets an infield hit, only to be erased by Betts on a DP. 3 flies up in the 3rd. in order in the 4th. Still 3-1. Of course G Lux leads off 5th after making a great catch for a DP. But bats are silent again. 6th gets leadoff double by Trea, 1B by Muncy but Trea doesnt read it well and stops at 3B. Smith hits a nice sac fly to score Trea for 4-2. 7th: Beaty PH lines to deep CF. Mookie out. Seager lines into the RF corner for a triple! (With 2 outs need caution trying for 3B — better make it.) Trea strokes a chopper for 3rd out. All important 9th, as the Dodgers look for that elusive insurance run. Top of the order goes 1-2-3 (Trea fans on a bad chase).

Pitching: Gonsolin gets his 3rd start and is shaky in the 1st, as he offers up a center cut fastball that gets smashed to deep LF. No worry, AJ is there to snag it on a well timed leap against the fence. (However, AJ should have found the fence first.) Not so lucky in the 2nd, as Calhoun leads off with a solo HR (belt high fastball). But then Gonso settles down and avoids the middle of the zone to get 2 K’s. Tony very good in inning 3. He gives up a hit in the 4th, followed by a long fly to deep RCF sprinted down by a fleet Lux to amaze us all — including the runner who got doubled off. 5th gets a K on a WP and runner reaches 1B. Grounder that should have been a DP gets only one out at 1B due to the shift leaving no one to cover 2B (mistake!). Run cashed in on a hit (shame), so now 3-2. Yet another WP (really wild) moves tying run to 2B, but Tony escapes on a K (and done on only 67 pitches). Vesia for the 6th: K, double and walk, so 2 on. Vesia gets troublesome Calhoun to fly out for 2nd out, and finally a K on a 95 heater. Still 4-2. Treinen gives us a scare in the 8th: 1 pitch away from loading the bases with 2 out vs. troublesome Calhoun again, but fans him on a high 93 cutter. (I wanted 97.) 4-2 in the 9th: Jansen for the save — please! Kenley goes up and away to 2 lefties (normally good approach) but they both manage to slice the ball in the air to LF, now occupied by CT3. And a very good thing, as CT3 uses his speed to make 2 great catches, including an all out dive (makes up for his whiff with bases loaded). With 2 out, Kenley tosses a wipeout slider for a fan and the ballgame. Dodgers lucky to hold on for the 4-2 win, as the bullpen hurls 4 more shutout innings.

Dodgers remain 1 game behind Giants (99 wins to 100 — unreal).

Game 2- oy oy. Dodgers sleepwalking through this game. Nothing doing on offense until a solo jack by Trea in the 6th, but that is all. Along with sloppy defense. How does the worst team in MLB embarrass the Dodgers like this? Trea Turner gets a pass on his 2nd solo jack of the game in the 9th. Dodgers lose 7-2 and deservedly so. Bad night.

Pitching: Kershaw not a good showing either — seems all the Dodgers drank the same Kool-ade. Marte homers on 1st pitch! A bad sign. Kershaw gives up 4 runs and is lifted in the 5th for Graterol. But the 4-0 lead does in the Dodgers tonight. To make matters worse, Roberts throws in the towel by bringing in Evan Phillips in the 8th only to see him surrender 2 extra runs, so now 7-1 — game over.

Game 3 (rubber)- red hot Seager and Trea go back to back in the 1st for a 2-0 lead. red hot Seager goes mile high club with a 464 ft solo blast for 3-0. Then Dodgers hit the usual mid inning drought, so still 3-0 in the 9th. Big problem is the bottom of the order can’t get a hit with men on base (0-9 with RISP). AJ got hit on his hand by a pitch — hope he is OK (we need him).

Pitching: Urias goes 5 shutout innings (yay, back on track). Bruihl for the 6th, Kelly the 7th, Knebel the 8th — all shutouts. Jansen for the save, gives up a hit. But then stupid give the runner 3B. Okay, we hold on for the 3-0 shutout and take the series.

Notes:

1. Dodgers get their 100th win for the 9th time in their storied history.
2. Both Dodger middle infielders, Seager and Trea, get their career 100th home runs in the same game!

Sep 21-23: Dodgers travel to the Rockies to begin the final fortnight of the season — 2x 3-game series at home and away. Dodgers will send their amazing 3 hurlers to the mound: all 3 have >=14 wins. Dodgers have placed Belli on 10-day IL and replaced him with Luke Raley (oh no — a regular 0-fer).

Game 1- Dodgers start Raley in RF (drat, I will pencil in his 0-4) instead of CT3 (why?). And the fans cry, “Why not Beaty?” I’d even take McKinstry. Dodgers go out in order 1st 3 innings (0-9), then 1st 2 out in 4th. Figures 1st hit in the game would be an infield bleeder (by Trea). Muncy 0-fer the road trip. (0-9, so why’s he batting 4th?) With 2 gone in 5th, Dodgers finally come alive with hits from G Lux and Hot Hand Luke, with Urias driving in the RBI! Dodgers finally on the scoreboard, and have runners cornered for Betts, who goes Baltimore chop for an infield single and RBI — ties the game at 2. Trea leadoff hit in 6th, followed by a Muncy 413ft mash off the wall for a double, scoring Trea on his signature slip-and-slide — to take a 3-2 lead. Muncy takes 3B on JT fly to RF. Rox bring the infield in, but to no avail, as RBI man Smith cashes in the run on a long fly to RF corner — extends lead to 4-2. (Dodgers had only 1 hit through 4, but got 6 hits the next 2 innings, good for 4 runs.) Now tied at 4, Dodgers need to score in the 8th, with 2-3-4 at bat. Seager grounds to 1B. Trea lines it back at pitcher who fly swats it down for out 2. Muncy caught looking (ugh). Better produce runs in the 9th, but did not — even though G Lux got yet another hit, but was thrown out trying to advance to 2B on a WP! We go to the 10th: Lux on 2B to start. Tio Albert to PH (vs a RHP!) goes hard up the middle (a veteran play) to plate Lux for the winning run. Pujols POTG, as Dodgers hold on (exhale) for an exhausting 5-4 win.

Pitching: Urias efficient in 1st on only 6 pitches, and very good in 2nd-3rd — perfect through 3. Julio falters in the 4th to give up 2 runs on a pair of doubles. Leadoff double in the 5th. Balk on a flinch. Great snatch on 1-hopper by Trea when infield was way in. (I would play them half way in the middle, up at the corners. A K. Flyout — runner stranded. 6th is usually Julio’s downfall — gives up a leadoff hit. Next a sharp grounder up the middle snagged by shifted Trea, but no one else to cover 2B, so throws to 1B (runner to 2B). A 2nd RBI double to CJ Cron, for 4-3. Back-to-back double on a pop fly that just eludes Lux on a dive, so game tied at 4 runs on 7 hits for each side after 6. Urias loses win opportunity, and puts kibosh on his Cy (sigh). Kelly starts the 7th with a walk and hit (oh no). K on a bunter. Infield fly for 2 outs. What’s the Story? 0-3, but gets a walk. Out goes Kelly for Treinen, with bases loaded, 2 outs. Blake battles the heck out of nemesis Blackmon and gets the swing and miss on the 9th pitch, a 98 heater, to preserve the tie after 7. Blake cleans up the 8th. Jansen for the tie-save in the 9th, walks the leadoff hitter (ugh). Rox try to bunt runner over, and fail, but a little WP off Smith’s heel moves runner up anyway. A flyout, runner holds at 2B. And now for another Story (AB). Kenley trying to make Trevor chase, but no bite and he walks (OK, 1B open). But now we face nemesis Blackmon. Long fly to RF, back goes Raley and … makes the catch (breathe). We go to extras! Graterol for the 10th (guess Roberts wants to go with gas over finesse, being in Colorado). Brus gets 2 outs, buts walks the 3rd hitter — 1st and 3rd. Replaced by Vesia, who induces a fly out to CF — ballgame! (I’m surprised the Rox didn’t try a double steal, as the Dodgers are known to be poor on steals.)

Game 2- Facing all-star pitcher Marquez. Trea with a hit in 1st. Smith and G Lux on base in 2nd with 1 out, but Raley (good 0-fer replacement for Belli) and Buehler K. Seager on in the 3rd, but a rare GI DP by Trea. In the 4th, hot G Lux strokes another one into LCF, this one for a run scoring double to open the scoring. Hot Hand Luke unexpectedly thumps a 2-run homer to CF, and the Dodgers lead 3-0. Now behind 5-3 in the 5th (that’s Colorado), Mookie leads off with a walk (very close call). Seager single the other way. TT walks to load ’em. Muncy walks for a run, and that’s all for the all-star Marquez. JT strokes a sac fly to RF, to plate the tying run, but Trea gets picked off 2B when the throw goes there instead of home (big gaffe). Smith chases for a K and last out. 5-5 in the 5th, but 6-5 in the 6th. Raley and Lux out, then we get to see AJ as a PH (yay, he’s back!) ground out. Top of the order in the 7th. Mookie rakes a 1-hopper short-hopped by Story. Seager smash snared at 1B for a pitcher covering out. TT follows suit with the 3rd hard grounder, to 3rd, to end 7th. Now down 10-5 in the 9th, appears hopeless. Dodgers send up a parade of PH’s to no avail, and lose 10-5.

Pitching: Buehler clean 1st. Pitches go belt high in 2nd for a long fly out and another double off the wall by CJ Cron, followed by another long fly out to CF, Cron taking 3B — stranded. In the 4th, Rodgers ambushes 1st pitch for a solo HR. 2 straight hits follows. Then a pop fly falls that should have been caught by Trea (no help on call!) for bases loaded, no outs. McMahon strokes the 5th straight hit for 2 runs to tie the score. Another long fly, for an out (on another high fastball). But pitcher Marquez hits a 2-out double to score 2 more runs for 5 in the inning, and Walker comes out for Bruihl. 5-3 Rox (and no W for WB). 5th, Bruihl hits Blackmon to put 1st 2 on, and replaced by Graterol. Brus’ lasers are center cut and gives up back to back singles for a run (6-5) and bases loaded, no outs. Lucky liner is snagged by Seager for 1st out. Slider for K, 2 outs. Laser at 102 for called K, and leaves ’em loaded (whew). 6-5. Knebel clean in 6th. Vesia in 7th, after a collision at 1B with Blackmon, also surrenders a double to CJ Cron (4th of series!) on a belt-high fastball (stop that!) to score Blackmon for 7-5. Ouch: Sam Hilliard of all people bangs a 3-run homer for 10-5 and ballgame. Apparently the collision hurt Vesia enough, and he is replaced by Evan Phillips (who?), who ends the inning, and gives a clean 8th.

Game 3 (rubber)- Must win. Dodgers get the return of AJ, who will play LF today. Dodgers inexplicably move Lux to CF and leave Mookie in RF (?). 1st: Dodgers get 2 on, 2 out, and leave it up to the #5 hitter (critical spot), cold Muncy, who works the count 3-0 but is green lighted to pop up (ugh). AJ leads off 2nd by banging a double (great to have his bat back), and he is cashed in by a Barnes (!) single. Hot G Lux should be batting higher than 8th, and he continues his hot hitting with a single. Scherzer struggles to even bunt and almost pops up foul, but K’s, while Barnes and Lux pull off a double steal (close). Betts K, but Seager comes through big with a pop fly hit to drive in both runs — 3-0. Seager and Trea leadoff 5th with hits, but all erase on a DP by Muncy. Dodgers sleep through 6-7, but awaken in 8th for a run on another double by AJ to cut lead to 5-4. The fateful 9th, down a run — season on the line. Dodgers show some life and get 2 on, 2 out via singles by Betts and Seager (4th hit), with game on the line for Trea — boom, a base hit to score the tying run at 5! Clutch. And we go to extras again. In the 10th, Mighty Mad Max comes through with a mighty blast to deep CF for a 2-run homer, and the ballgame! A 7-5 win in 10.

Pitching: Mad Max Scherzer takes the hill, and throws a clean 1st. 2nd, gives up a leadoff hit to face killer Cron, who also singles. Then a double for a run! Why can’t Dodgers pitchers adapt to Colorado? All 3 games of this series our top 3 pitchers struggle — with location and movement. Yay, Max gets a chase K — do more of that and don’t throw in the middle. 2nd-3rd with 1 out, fly to LF for AJ, who makes a crisp throw home to hold the runners. Max only has to take care of the pitcher, but Freeland lashes a liner to LFx to drive in both runs and tie the game at 3. Just like yesterday. More bad in 5th: a 2-run homer to Tapia for 5-3. Max replaced by Kelly for clean 6th. Bickford gives up a hit in 8th and is replaced by Bruihl, with runners at 2nd-3rd and 2 outs, gets a K to end the threat and preserve 5-4. Jansen a clean 9th, to get the game to extras.

Sep 17-19: On the road again. Reds needing wins for WC berth, while Dodgers need to gain a game on the Giants.

Game 1- Both pitchers on their game. Mookie laces a leadoff double that 1-hops the RF wall, and after 2 K’s, Seager walks. JT lashes a grounder to SS for the last out. Dodgers can’t hit Castillo’s changes, and go out in order in the 2nd and 3rd with 6 K’s total. 4th a little better: Seager gets a hit but JT another hard grounder to SS, with Seager moving up. Will Smith K’s for 2nd time. Belli leads off the 5th getting called out on ball 4 (bad call). With 2 outs, Walker lives up to his name. Mookie sharp groundout to end it. 6th, Muncy out but #6 Trea singles up the middle, followed by a beat the shift infield hit by Seager. JT and Will go 2 flies up. Now 3-0. Dodgers really need to score this 7th inning, but 7-8-9 coming up. Belli gives up the 10th K after going 3-0. Beaty a hit (yay) to knock out Castillo (finally) — Castillo ended up with 10K’s. CT3 to PH gets long fly caught, ditto for Betts. Dodgers have 2-3-4 up in the 8th, but go 1-2-3 (K, 4-3, long fly to deep CF). Last chance 9th with 5-6-7. 1 on, 1 out with Belli grounding out on a rare hit-and-run . Down to last out, with Beaty hit clutch single to score Smith and at least defeat the shutout. Last dance with Pujols PH who lines out to CF. Dodgers lose 3-1.

Pitching: Buehler looking sharp, matching Castillo with 4 shutout innings. Walker establishing command with his fastball at 97, and mixing cutters and curves. Has given up 1H, 1BB through 4. Scoreless into the bottom of 5, Buehler surrenders game’s 1st run on a leadoff double to ex-Dodger Kyle Farmer and an RBI single. 6th, 1-out single by Catellanos on a center cut fastball. Hot Votto slashes a single to RF on another center cut fastball. 2 on, 1 out for “Moose” to popup foul for 2nd out. Walker only goes 6 (95P). Farmer gets a hanger and strokes his 2nd double to LF to score 2: 3-0. Knebel for the 7th with K-K, but then dishes a center cut fastball to India for a loud lineout to leaping Seager. Graterol out of witness protection for the 8th gives up a hit, a flyout (snag by Belli), sharp grounder by Votto diving stop by Trea to throw him out. Pop foul ends it. Still 3-0 to the 9th.

Game 2- Another scoreless game until the 5th. JT hits a double for 2nd-3rd, and G Lux hits a huge triple to score 2. Lux scores on a safety squeeze by Betts for 3-0. Dodgers tack on 1 in the 6th, with Trea scoring the 4th run. Dodgers get some traffic going with 2 outs in the 9th, as Barnes walks, Pujols PH infield single, Mookie RBI hit for 5-0.

Pitching: To the Max, as Scherzer strong again. A little trouble with command of his slider and change, Barnes calls for curves that get him back on track. Max hurls 7 shutout innings on only 2 hits. Joe Kelly cleans up the 8th. Vesia in the 9th gives up 2 long flies and then walks Votto, a long fly off the wall for a single by Moose for 1st-3rd. Farmer hits a slow roller to Seager for the last out — but wait, Corey lobs it into the dirt and Muncy can’t scoop it — E6 and unearned run for Reds. Roberts panics and brings in Jansen to close it. Dodgers hold on to win 5-1, as a reversal of its game.

Game 3- Rubber game. Dodgers wake up on a Sunday morning and feast at the altar of the long ball. In a series with no home runs by either team, the Dodgers bang 3: Smith, Lux, Seager (so much for lefties can’t hit LHP). After just 3 innings, twice through the lineup, the Dodgers have more runs (6) and hits (8) than either of the weekend games. They have 4 batters with 2 hits each (2 of the HR hitters and Betts, CT3). G Lux has 3 RBI. But as happens half the time, Dodgers score early and rest. Unexpectedly, the Dodgers bust out for 2 runs in the 9th, to go up 8-4.

Pitching: Kershaw back for his 2nd start after IL. Kersh induces a DP followed by a backfoot slider K in the 2nd, and also finishes the 3rd on a swinging K for 0R, 2H through 3. Kersh gives up a double in the 4th for a run on a WP and an out, but finishes the inning with his 6th K on a high fastball (!). Now 6-1. Gonsolin takes over the double starter game in the 6th and gives up a run for 6-2. Gonso was left in too long, and gives up another 2 runs for 6-4. Roberts then sends in the marines (yay) with Treinen and Jansen to shut it down — save a solo jack by PH Votto (good for him!). Dodgers hold on for an 8-5 and series win.