SB Nation • 6 min read

Dodgers can’t squander chance to win NLDS at home

Typically, you would like your team having three chances to only win one more game. Most fans would take those odds. But after last night’s loss, having two more chances doesn’t quite feel like enough.

It would be best to just flush Wednesday’s loss and move on and focus on Game 4. Except a few concerning things happened in Game 3, making winning tonight’s game feel more dire.

The main issue is the Dodgers let the Philly bats get hot, namely the top three in the order, and now they have the momentum. Maybe if Yoshinobu Yamamoto had been able to get back on track after Kyle Schwarber’s massive bomb, things would’ve been ok. But things just spiraled from there, ultimately culminating in Clayton Kershaw being left out to wear the game, in turn giving the Phillies offense more confidence.

The Dodgers offense did not help out their pitching staff in any way. They had their chances, but couldn’t execute when they had to.

So here we are. Game 4, the final one in L.A. If Philly wins, they go back to Philly where the momentum will be all theirs in front of a raucous crowd. Sure, they won there twice already but seems improbable they could do it a third time.

Tyler Glasnow will be the first line of defense for the Dodgers. Glasnow has only pitched 1.2 innings this postseason, coming in Game 1 of this NLDS in relief of Shohei Ohtani. He allowed two hits, two walks, and struck out two.

In his career, Glasnow has not been good in the postseason. That combined with his being prone to walking batters doesn’t instill much confidence going into this game. It will also be interesting to see how the Dodgers line up the bullpen behind Glasnow, especially if he does falter.

Cristopher Sanchez will be pitching for the Phillies. The Dodgers saw him in Game 1 and did manage to get two runs off of him, although it took them until the sixth inning to do so. However, this will be the third time they’ve seen him in a month, and it will be on shorter rest for Sanchez.

Some reasons for optimism are the above stated seeing Sanches again, they punted plenty of games last postseason and still won, the best relief pitchers are rested, the game is at home, and Ohtani is due.

But, there’s plenty of reasons to worry also. Glasnow’s postseason woes, Ohtani not doing anything at the plate, and this one, to me, the scariest of them all, from Matt Gelb’s Athletic article this morning –

“Everyone was just in awe,” outfielder Max Kepler said. “It felt like a revelation at the same time.”

A revelation of what?

“A revelation,” he said, “of, ‘We’re back.’”

Game 4 is a must win for the Dodgers. They won’t win every game in the postseason of course, but they also cannot squander away this chance to take the series.