Dodgers follow their October script to perfection in NLCS Game 3 win over Mets
NEW YORK — This was the script the Dodgers were envisioning.
An early lead from the lineup. A solid, albeit short, outing from their starter. And then a parade of scoreless innings from the bullpen.
It might not be an orthodox October plan, but it’s the one best suited to the Dodgers’ banged-up pitching staff and shorthanded starting rotation.
And on Wednesday night at Citi Field, in a pivotal Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, they executed it to ruthless perfection in an 8-0 win over the New York Mets, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven set with their best two pitchers lined up for the next two days.
Wednesday was not an enthralling game, defined more by sloppy defense and wasted chances than any sort of October magic on a brisk night in the Queens.
Max Muncy hits solo home run to cap Dodgers’ 8-0 win over Mets in Game 3
⚾ Dodgers 8, Mets 0 — FINAL
Top of the ninth: Max Muncy led off with a home run to right field off Mets reliever Tylor Megill to extend the Dodgers’ lead. Like Ohtani’s home run, the blast went into the second deck at Citi Field.
Teoscar Hernández struck out and Chris Taylor walked. Will Smith then singled into left field. Tommy Edman grounded out and Kiké Hernández struck out to cap the frame.
Bottom of the ninth: Ben Casparius struck out J.D. Martinez. Jose Iglesias grounded out to second and Harrison Bader flied out to left field to end the game.
Dodgers take a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 set for Thursday at 5:08 p.m. PDT.
Shohei Ohtani hits a three-run home run to give Dodgers a 7-0 lead
⚾ Dodgers 7, Mets 0 — End of the eighth inning
Top of the eighth: Will Smith led with a walk before Tommy Edman flied out to left field. Kiké Hernández lined into center field to put two on.
Shohei Ohtani then blasted a three-run home run into the second deck of right field to give the Dodgers a 7-0 lead.
Mets reliever Tylor Megill then got Mookie Betts to ground out before Freddie Freeman lined out.
Bottom of the eighth: Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius struck out Mark Vientos. Brandon Nimmo drew a walk. Pete Alonso flied out to right field and Casparius struck out Starling Marte.
Dodgers hold 4-0 lead over Mets heading into eighth inning
⚾ Dodgers 4, Mets 0 — End of the seventh inning
Top of the seventh: Facing Mets reliever Tylor Megill, Mookie Betts led with single to left. Freddie Freeman flied out before Max Muncy drew a walk. Teoscar Hernández grounded out and Gavin Lux struck out.
Bottom of the seventh: Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen got Jeff McNeil to fly out before he striking out Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor.
Dodgers take 4-0 lead on Kiké Hernández’s two-run home run
⚾ Dodgers 4, Mets 0 — End of the sixth inning
Top of the sixth: Gavin Lux popped out behind home plate and Will Smith lined out. Tommy Edman singled to right, then took second when Mets reliever Reed Garrett was called for the first balk of his career while facing Kiké Hernández.
Hernández followed with a two-run home run that just cleared the wall in left field to double the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0.
Shohei Ohtani followed with what might have been his most painful bat of the season, fouling the ball off his groin before striking out to end the frame.
Bottom of the sixth: Ryan Brasier took over on the mound for the Dodgers. He struck out Pete Alonso before Starling Marte flied out to right field. Brasier then walked J.D. Martinez, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Mark Prior.
On a full count, Jose Iglesias grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to bail out Brasier.
Michael Kopech takes over for Walker Buehler in the fifth
⚾ Dodgers 2, Mets 0 — End of the fifth inning
Top of the fifth: Shohei Ohtani flied out to right field, falling to 0 for 21 in the postseason with the bases empty. Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor then made a nice, spinning grab on a ball hit by Mookie Betts, allowing him to throw out Betts before he reached first.
Freddie Freeman followed with a single up the middle before Max Muncy drew a walk, ending Luis Severino’s night. Facing reliever Reed Garrett, Teoscar Hernández struck out.
Bottom of the fifth: Michael Kopech took over in relief of Walker Buehler. Francisco Lindor lined out to the warning track in left field. Mark Vientos flied out to the wall in center field. Kopech struck out Brandon Nimmo.
Dodgers hold 2-0 lead heading into the fifth inning
⚾ Dodgers 2, Mets 0 — End of the fourth inning
Top of the fourth: Will Smith, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández each popped out in a 1-2-3 inning. Mets pitcher Luis Severino has given up two runs, two hits, with three strikeout and three walks on 79 pitches so far.
Bottom of the fourth: Jose Iglesias lined out to right field, Tyrone Taylor grounded out to short and Francisco Alvarez took a called third strike. Buehler has allowed three hits, with six strikeouts and two walks over 90 pitches.
Dodgers can’t capitalize with the bases loaded in the third
⚾ Dodgers 2, Mets 0 — End of the third inning
Top of the third: Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts led off with walks before Freddie Freeman flied out to left field. Max Muncy singled to right field to load the bases.
Teoscar Hernández hit a broken-bat liner to third for the second out. Gavin Lux grounded out to pitcher Luis Severino for the final out. Much like Buehler the inning before, Severino escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam.
Bottom of the third: Mark Vientos reached first on a flare to right field that was just out of the reach of a diving Mookie Betts. Brandon Nimmo lined out to third base. Pete Alonso flied out to deep left field. Buehler then hit Starling Marte with a pitch. Buehler struck out J.D. Martinez for his fifth strikeout.
Dodgers take 2-0 lead; Walker Buehler escapes bases-loaded jam
⚾ Dodgers 2, Mets 0 — End of the second inning
Top of the second: Max Muncy, batting in the cleanup spot, drew a walk off Mets pitcher Luis Severino. Teoscar Hernández reached first after catcher Francisco Alvarez tried to throw out Muncy at second on a dribbler off the bat Hernandez. Mets second baseman Jose Iglesias couldn’t corral the somewhat off-target throw, allowing Muncy to take second.
Gavin Lux grounded out to first, advancing Muncy to third and Hernández to second. Will Smith, batting in the No. 7 spot, drove in Muncy after hitting a ninth-pitch single that ricocheted off the glove of Severino.
Tommy Edman followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hernández from third and extend the Dodgers’ lead. Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor made a spectacular sliding catch on the warning track after slightly colliding with right fielder Starling Marte. The just managed to avoid a major collision. Severino struck out Kiké Hernández to end the inning.
Bottom of the second inning: Starling Marte grounded out before Walker Buehler walked former Dodger J.D. Martinez. Jose Iglesias the singled to short after a late-hopping hit was too much for Tommy Edman to handle. Buehler then walked Tyrone Taylor to load the bases with one out, prompting a mound visit from Mark Prior.
Buehler got out of the bases-loaded jam, striking out Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor to end the inning.
Dodgers go down in order in the first inning
⚾ Dodgers 0, Mets 0 — End of the first inning
Top of the first: Facing Mets starter Luis Severino, Shohei Ohtani grounded out on the first pitch. Severino struck out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Bottom of the first: Dodgers starter Walker Buehler got Francisco Lindor to line out to center field. After Mark Vientos struck out, Brandon Nimmo singled on a check swing down the third-base line for the game’s first hit. Buehler struck out Pete Alonso to end the inning.
Miguel Rojas will need surgery, but hopes to play in World Series if Dodgers advance
Miguel Rojas has been diagnosed with a sports hernia that will require surgery after the season, but the shortstop, who was removed from the roster for the National League Championship Series, remains hopeful of playing in the World Series if the Dodgers advance.
“This has always been my dream, to play for a team that is contending for a World Series, and now being this close and not being good enough to be on the [NLCS] roster is very frustrating, especially after the year that I had,” Rojas said before Game 3 against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
“But the team needed someone at shortstop who can move and do the stuff that I’m supposed to do when I’m healthy. … I wanted to be in there, and I know in my heart I could be in there with medication, but I have to understand that this is best for the team, and I’m going to be as good as I can be for the World Series.”
Rojas aggravated what was originally diagnosed as a left-adductor strain in Game 3 of the NL Division Series and did not play in the final two games against the San Diego Padres.
He lobbied hard to play in the NLCS, engaging manager Dave Roberts in a lengthy conversation during a workout before the start of the series, but if Rojas aggravated the injury again in the NLCS and had to be replaced on the roster, he would not be eligible to play in the World Series.
“I was telling him that I’m OK, I’m good, that I just took grounders and ran around the bases,” Rojas said. “I was telling the truth, that I was willing to play, but I was kind of making promises that I didn’t know if I could keep.”
Rojas, who played stellar defense all season and had one of his best seasons at the plate, batting .283 with a .748 on-base-percentage, six homers and 36 RBIs in 103 games, said his leg feels about the same as it did over the weekend. Not better, not worse.
In addition to daily treatment and exercises, he has been talking to players such as teammate Kiké Hernández and New York Mets outfielder Starling Marte about how they played through sports hernias before getting surgery. Texas shortstop Corey Seager and Seattle outfielder Mitch Haniger also recently played through the injury.
“They said there were good days and bad days, you can have critical pain or be fully functional — it depends on the person, the day, the activities you do and the things you do during the game,” Rojas said. “One play can make it worse, or you can play seven or eight games in a row without a problem.
“So it’s kind of a coin flip at this time. There are days when I feel like I can’t really walk, and other days when I feel like nothing happened. It’s pretty crazy. But I’m doing whatever I can to make everything stable, so hopefully, if we get the opportunity to play in the World Series, I can be a part of it and actually contribute.”
Don’t blame big payrolls for the success of Dodgers, Yankees and Mets
It’s a cyclical thing, and the cycle has come back around to a tired narrative. The teams with the three largest payrolls are three of baseball’s final four. Those three teams play in New York or Los Angeles. Baseball is doomed.
But think back to this time last year. There was a narrative last October too.
Tony Clark, the executive director of the players’ union, stood on the field at Dodger Stadium and smiled. He has heard it all before. Baseball is not doomed.
“Last year,” Clark said, “the conversation was the exact opposite: Everyone was concerned about the format, because the teams that had the most wins over the course of the year didn’t find their way late into the postseason.
“This year, it’s flipped.”
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Shohei Ohtani is the Dodgers’ best player, and they need him to play like it
Shohei Ohtani was staring at his phone when I approached him in front of his locker in the wake of the Dodgers’ 7-3 defeat to the New York Mets on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
He glanced up.
We were alone, as the other reporters were in other parts of the clubhouse interviewing other players.
I figured readers of this publication would want to hear from their star after he was shut down in a defeat that leveled the best-of-seven series at one game apiece, but Oh-fer-tani was reluctant to speak.
“I don’t know what the other media will think,” he said in Japanese.
‘I can go.’ Dodger Freddie Freeman endures hours of therapy to play on sprained ankle
For the first time in weeks, Freddie Freeman felt no pain.
The Champagne and beer that showered him and his teammates Friday night after the Dodgers’ Game 5 win in the National League Division Series might have helped. The pain-numbing medication he took before the game (all doctor-approved, he makes sure to note) probably did too.
But for Freeman, it was a concoction of adrenaline, relief and gratitude that mostly numbed the pain in his badly sprained right ankle — at least for a little while.
“Right now I don’t feel anything,” he said with a smile from the corner of the clubhouse, protecting his injured foot from the celebratory mayhem around him. “So maybe we should just keep winning.”
Mets deliver nasty surprise to any hopes of Dodgers cruising through NLCS
It wasn’t a baseball game, it was a sucker punch.
The New York Mets sneaked up on the Dodgers in broad daylight Monday and knocked them flat, swiping the assuredness off their face and sending them tumbling into Queens.
Two games in, the National League Championship Series has now been transformed into something few thought it would ever be, something that should make Dodger fans knot those blue rags around their numbing fingers.
This series is now, well, a series.
The Mets created one by storming out of the dugout with bats flying and arms cooking, pushing Dodger manager Dave Roberts into another controversial playoff pitching decision, breaking down the powerful Dodger bats, generally bringing chaos to an overheated Chavez Ravine and stealing away a 7-3 victory in a Game 2 that tied the NLCS at one game apiece.
“They hit us back,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said.
Dodgers make changes to their lineup for Game 3 vs. Mets
Ahead of a pivotal Game 3 in the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers made a few tweaks to their batting order.
Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández flipped spots, with Muncy batting cleanup and Hernández moving to the five-hole.
Struggling catcher Will Smith also moved down the order to the No. 7 spot, with Gavin Lux slotting in at the No. 6 spot.
Manager Dave Roberts said one impetus for the moves was getting more left-handed at-bats against Mets Game 3 starter Luis Severino.
In the regular season, right-handed hitters batted just .216 against Severino with a .615 OPS. Left-handers batted .269 with a .774 OPS.
Bus rides, watch parties and a new mindset: The edge fueling the Dodgers’ playoff run
On the darkest night of their season last week, the Dodgers didn’t linger in their hushed home clubhouse.
The team had just been blown out in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. They’d lost their cool (and watched their home crowd do the same) in a 10-2 rout to the San Diego Padres. But rather than dwell on the disaster, they quickly packed team-branded duffel bags and boarded a charter bus waiting out in the parking lot.
With their season on the line, they were headed to San Diego.
And, this time, they decided as a team to all travel together.
Mookie Betts is putting in extra work in effort to boost his production
Most of the Dodgers had retreated to the visiting clubhouse in Citi Field after Tuesday night’s off-day workout except for one solitary figure in the batting cage, wearing a wool cap and heavy blue hoodie to shield himself from the cold, taking swing after swing after swing under the watchful eye of batting coach Aaron Bates.
“It’s not something that I want to do,” Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts said of the 300 to 400 batting-practice swings he has taken virtually every day during the postseason. “I don’t want to hit all day. But it’s something that, based on my play, I need to do.”
Betts has had his moments in October, hitting first-inning home runs in Games 3 and 4 of the National League Division Series at San Diego and a three-run double in an 8-0 NL Championship Series Game 1 win over the New York Mets on Sunday in Dodger Stadium.
But his overall performance has been nowhere close to the standard set by the 2018 American League most valuable player and eight-time All-Star. Betts entered Game 3 of the NLCS Wednesday night with a .192 average (five for 26) and .785 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in seven playoff games.
Which is why Betts has spent countless hours in the batting cage this month taking hundreds of swings.
“I never do it during the season,” Betts said. “It’s not really sustainable. I’m surprised I haven’t broken down, but I do a really good job in taking care of my body. … In a time like now, there aren’t many tomorrows. They run out pretty quick. So I’m trying to do what I can to help us, and the last thing I want to do is not give it 100%, 110%.”
Is Betts trying to find a certain “feel” in the cage or is he making mechanical adjustments?
“I think that’s the point of 500 swings, because I don’t know,” Betts said. “I’m trying to figure out which one it is, and hopefully something sticks. You’re not going to find it not hitting. I’ve got to look for it somehow in those couple hundred [swings]. It will be in there.”
Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball can be sold, judge says. But who will pocket the cash?
The auction and sale of Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball will proceed as planned.
The historic ball, which made the Dodgers superstar the first MLB player to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, is already on its way to fetching almost $2 million.
It remains to be seen who will pocket all that cash.
The individuals involved in litigation over ownership of the historic ball have agreed to allow Goldin Auctions to continue with its sale of the item, and then allow the courts to decide which of them will receive the proceeds from the sale.
‘Always bet on that guy.’ Why the Dodgers have confidence in Walker Buehler
NEW YORK — The stuff and the results this season have not been vintage Walker Buehler, not after a second Tommy John surgery sapped him of some velocity and a pesky right-hip injury hindered the return of the erstwhile ace after a 23-month absence.
Yet the Dodgers have seen glimpses of the old Buehler in both performance and demeanor in recent weeks, the 30-year-old right-hander rediscovering some of the swagger that made him one of baseball’s best big-game pitchers from 2018 to 2021.
And now, after a bullpen game blew up in their face in Monday’s 7-3 loss to the New York Mets, evening the National League Championship Series at one game apiece, the Dodgers will turn to Buehler to prevent this best-of-seven series from going sideways on them in Game 3 Wednesday night.
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‘He’s going to reset.’ Shohei Ohtani trying to rectify ‘bad habits’ amid playoff struggles
NEW YORK — Sometimes, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, all it takes one bad matchup, or one crafty pitcher, for a hitter to “trigger bad habits” in their swing.
In the case of Shohei Ohtani, and his struggles over the last several games of the Dodgers’ postseason, the culprit appears to have been San Diego Padres starter Yu Darvish.
In six at-bats against Darvish during last week’s National League Division Series, Ohtani went hitless, striking out three times while looking atypically mortal after his superhuman regular season.
In Game 5 of the NLDS, Ohtani seemed particularly uncomfortable against Darvish in the box. He went down on strikes chasing a slider out of the zone. He hit a lazy pop-up on a cutter down the middle. He struck out again chasing a curveball off the plate.
Dodgers not prioritizing victory in Game 2 of the NLCS is a risky strategy
The Dodgers did not take their best shot at winning. The baseball gods hate that.
If neither the Dodgers nor the New York Mets sweep the next three games, the National League Championship Series will return to Dodger Stadium, and the Dodgers might just run another bullpen game. Their season could be on the line that day, and they will need to make better decisions than they did on Monday.
In a short series, every game matters. On Monday, the Dodgers made decisions that were more about winning the series and less about winning the game. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes it does not. If not, the winter will be long and bitter.
First things first: This is not just me saying the Dodgers did not take their best shot at winning.
Game 2 rewind: Bullpen game blows up in grand fashion
In theory, the Dodgers’ decision to go with a bullpen game in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday made sense.
The club’s lockdown relief corps had just gotten a rare night off, thanks to Jack Flaherty’s seven-inning gem in Game 1. Walker Buehler was an option to make a more traditional start, but the Dodgers wanted to save him for Game 3 in New York instead.
So, they planned to run back the pitching plan that worked so well in Game 4 of the NL Division Series, when they staved off elimination by throwing a group-effort shutout from eight different pitchers.
The only problem: The Dodgers declined to deploy their highest-leverage relievers early in the game this time.
Dodgers vs. Mets: How to watch and betting odds for Game 3
The Dodgers continue the postseason Wednesday when they face the New York Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field in New York. The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1.
The game is scheduled to start at 5:08 p.m. PDT and will air on FS1 and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts of the game will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español) in the Los Angeles area.
Here’s a look at the betting odds for the game:
Here’s the TV schedule for the remaining games in the series (all times Pacific):
Wednesday: Game 3 — Dodgers at New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
Thursday: Game 4 — Dodgers at New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
Friday: Game 5 — Dodgers at New York Mets, 2:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
*Sunday: Game 6 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
*Monday: Game 7 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m. | Fox, FS1, FOXD
*—if necessary
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