There was no shortage of problems for the Dodgers in a Game 2 loss that has seen the reigning champs return home trailing 2-0 in the NLCS. We might focus on the no-challenge that derailed Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s struggles; we could discuss the bullpen’s shortcomings, having been asked to carry the load after Yamamoto didn’t get out of the fourth—it is all pertinent. Nevertheless, the simple reality is that the Dodgers haven’t hit, and they’ve done that in the worst possible way, securing all of one extra-base
hit through 18 innings.
Following Game 1’s loss, we talked here about the silver lining of consistently putting people on against a talented Milwaukee staff. And that if you’re able to sustain that, you’ll eventually run into a big hit or two that can change a game—this lineup is too deep to project otherwise, or so we thought.
Instead of building from the positives of Game 1, the Dodgers offense took a step back in the second game of this series. Were it not for the self-inflicted wounds of Brewers starter Logan Henderson, they could’ve easily produced nothing the whole game—nothing, which summarizes their output in five innings of work against the Brewers bullpen.
It’s well established that to get anything going against the likes of Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, and Trevor Megill is a lofty task. That’s now a secondary issue because, again in Game 2, the Dodgers offense had their shots against more vulnerable pitchers and produced very little out of it.
Brewers starter Henderson was nowhere near his most polished version, and multiple errors, including one of his own, contributed to the Dodgers scoring four runs off him in 4.0+ innings. It could’ve been far worse, though, had they been just the tiniest more effective in capitalizing on a clearly rattled arm. Two innings in particular deserve special attention: the third and fifth frames.
In the third inning, Freddie Freeman came up to bat after the first two reached with bullets off Henderson, and he hit one that looked headed to the gap before Sal Frelick ran it down in a phenomenal defensive play (Savant put it at an .840 xBA). The same defense that made errors to put the Dodgers in the game also made up for it with difficult plays that many others would not have made. Still, the Dodgers scored a run in that inning after a wild pitch—with only one out and hard-hit balls after hard-hit balls against Henderson, you’d figure Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani would capitalize on a runner in scoring position, but neither could, stranding Mookie Betts.
Shortly thereafter, Henderson came back out there for the fifth and allowed one more run due to an errant throw that left a runner in scoring position with one out. With the score tied at 3-3 and the Brewers up in the series, Pat Murphy did not push the envelope and bring one of his key guys in against the top of the order; instead, he went to Dustin May. And before you ask, no, the Brewers haven’t turned May into a dominant arm since acquiring him. In fact, May’s record in Milwaukee has been especially bad, with an ERA north of 5.00 and two runs allowed in three innings in his only playoff appearance, a start against the Padres in the NLDS.
Against May, the Dodgers played for the one run, and a couple of sacrifices later, they led 4-3, but the feeling of leaving May off the hook was evident—knowing full well how much tougher things would get as the Brewers brought in their top arms. One run to take the lead is not the worst thing in the world, far from it, but in that moment with that matchup—still needing five innings out of your bullpen and facing one of the worst arms the Brewers will throw your way—playing for a single run was underwhelming. And that’s factoring in the struggling offense.
Following that inning, the worst-case scenario set in for the Dodgers, as their bullpen had a few hiccups here and there, while the Brewers’ was, by all accounts, perfect—so much so that it gave itself the luxury of not utilizing Megill, adding two insurance runs in the eighth to go up 7-4. In an alternate reality, we might come here and complain they didn’t drive that run in off May on their way to losing the game 4-3, but you required more in that situation—particularly when the other side’s top relievers have done what we’ve seen against this Dodgers lineup.
