ARLINGTON– If it is possible to be leading a series down 2 games to one, the Los Angeles Dodgers may have pulled off that grammatical oddity. They flipped the National League Championship Series with a record-breaking 15– 3 trouncing of the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 Wednesday night.
Like hanging participles and lost modifiers, Atlanta pitches should have the rebukes the Dodgers supplied. After their very first 12 swings, 10 of which put the ball in play, the Dodgers led 11-0 in the greatest inning in postseason history.
The Dodgers made the Braves throw 234 pitches, smashing the record for a nine-inning championship game given that detailed pitch records are available (since 1988). The old record was 215.
” We took quality at-bats all night,” stated Los Angeles shortstop Corey Seager, who with his first three swings doubled home a run, singled home a run and homered. “Even when we got up, people were grinding out pitches. We made them throw a great deal of pitches. Thats what you want in a long series like this. You desire to get to guys as much as possible, and we did that tonight.”
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
An offense that looked stagnant heading into the seventh inning of Game 2 ripped off 22 runs in its next six innings. Try coming at the Dodgers with passive and/or rusty pitching and you get your doors blown off by this effective lineup.
It wasnt just the 15– 3 score or the awakening of the games highest-scoring offense that flipped this series. The middle games of this series always figured to be a minefield for the Braves.
When they provide the ball to Max Fried or Ian Anderson and 23-22 when they offer it to any person else, the Braves are 19-4. Fried and Anderson are 12-2 with a 1.93 EA. All the other starters are 5-15 with a 7.41 ERA.
The way for Atlanta to win this series is to either win all of the games started by Fried and Anderson or simply steal one along the method. Game 3 starter Kyle Wright proved there is nothing more determinative in pitching than count utilize.
What the Braves are trying to do is similar to how the Nationals won the World Series last year. When Stephen Strasburg or Max Scherzer started and 0-3 with anyone else, they were 4-0 against Houston. For the postseason, Washington was 10-0 in Strasburg/Scherzer starts and 2-5 in the others.
As bad as Game 3 looked, this is what the next two video games appear like for Atlanta:
Video game 4: Rookie Bryse Wilson, who has actually thrown less than 16 innings this year, against three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.
Video game 5: A bullpen game– I would utilize Tyler Matzek as the opener– versus Dustin May and his 100-mph sinker.
” Quite truthfully, were in better shape than if we grinded out a 7– 5 loss,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
By that Snitker indicated that he provided catcher Travis dArnaud, first baseman Freddie Freeman and outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. half a night off with the game so out of hand, and none of his leading relievers were required.
There is a down side, too. Bad was Wright that he may have eliminated himself as an option for Game 5, if not the rest of the series, as maybe Josh Tomlin did with his bad outing in Game 2. And all those hits by Los Angeles increased the swagger and batters box self-confidence of virtually the whole Dodgers lineup. In particular, Cody Bellinger, whose bat looked oddly sluggish till the ninth inning of Game 2, found the whip in his swing and looks primed to be a force once again. He took pitches on balance in Game 3 (two walks) and squared up strikes for a crowning achievement and single. He was on base four times, scored two runs, drove in 2 runs and stole a home run with a leaping catch at the center-field wall. He had just one grievance.
” Im tired, man,” Bellinger said on the field after the four-hour, 15-minute slog. “My legs! That outfield is huge.”
You must remember what took place to the two teams that held the old record for many pitches seen in a nine-inning playoff game. After the 2001 Mariners saw 215 pitches in a 14– 3 ALCS win over the Yankees, they never won another game (losing 2 games).
The distinction? The 2001 Yankees offered the ball to Roger Clemens the next day. The 2004 Red Sox gave the ball to Derek Lowe. For their resuscitation, the Braves are providing the ball to a 22-year-old rookie who hasnt pitched in 17 days. Suddenly, but not surprisingly, this series looks like a long one.
It wasnt simply the 15– 3 score or the awakening of the games highest-scoring offense that flipped this series. The middle games of this series constantly figured to be a minefield for the Braves. The method for Atlanta to win this series is to either win all of the games started by Fried and Anderson or just take one along the way. Poor was Wright that he might have eliminated himself as an option for Game 5, if not the rest of the series, as maybe Josh Tomlin did with his poor getaway in Game 2. After the 2001 Mariners saw 215 pitches in a 14– 3 ALCS win over the Yankees, they never won another game (losing two video games).
