The Los Angeles Dodgers have gone up 2-0 in their NLCS with the Milwaukee Brewers, and the team seemed to have learned from what happened in Game 1.
The Dodgers won Game 1 of the series 2-1 on Monday in Milwaukee, Wisc. Blake Snell started the game and was nearly flawless. He allowed just one hit over 8 innings and struck out 10 for the win. The Dodgers removed him after he had thrown 103 pitches through his eight innings of work, and then things got sticky.
Roki Sasaki, who had been great as the team’s closer, got an out to start the ninth inning. Then Sasaki allowed a walk, double, sacrifice fly, and another walk to put runners on the corners. He was lifted for Blake Treinen with the Dodgers leading 2-1 and needing one more out for the win. Treinen walked the bases loaded before striking out Brice Turang to end things.
Many people questioned why the team took out Snell, who had been nearly unhittable. The Dodgers may have recognized their error, because they made an adjustment the following day.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched in Game 2 of the series on Tuesday night. He allowed a home run to Jackson Chourio to lead off the bottom of the first inning, but then he settled in and didn’t allow a run the rest of the way in a complete-game effort. He retired the final 14 batters he faced in a row and threw 111 pitches over the course of his start. The difference is, rather than lift a pitcher who was cruising through eight innings, the Dodgers let Yamamoto keep going.
You could argue that maybe they wanted to give Sasaki and Treinen a day off, but the more likely explanation is that the Dodgers saw what happened the night before and decided not to make the same mistake.
Snell didn’t get the chance to finish off his gem on Monday night, but the Dodgers let Yamamoto finish off his outing on Tuesday, and it worked out perfectly. Of course, holding a 5-1 lead rather than a 2-0 lead likely gave manager Dave Roberts some more comfort with keeping Yamamoto in, but the Dodgers still let him go.
If they continue to get such great pitching from their starters, they may challenge the new wisdom about pulling starters early from games and going straight to the bullpen.
