LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers were much better hitting in road games this regular season, but now have up to three games at home this week to try to keep their championship quest alive. They’ll need to find their offense to do so.
At Dodger Stadium this season, the Dodgers hit .250/.329/.419 with a 107 wRC+ that ranked ninth in the majors, averaging 4.63 runs per game. But on the road they averaged 5.26 runs while hitting .263/.347/.429 with a 114 wRC+, with all of those numbers tops in the majors. Their
road batting average was nine points clear of second place (Rays), and their on-base percentage was 16 points better than the next-best (Cubs, Brewers).
But on their four-game road trip — work with me here, since the Dodgers returned home to Los Angeles after the two games in Atlanta before heading to Milwaukee — the club scored only 11 total runs while hitting a paltry .181/.254/.260. The Dodgers on the road did get their only two hits with runners in scoring position this October, both Andy Pages singles (Game 4 in Atlanta, Game 1 in Milwaukee).
The Dodgers needed a lot of help from Logan Henderson’s three bad throws in Game 2 of the NLCS to plate the four runs they scored. The point is, it’s been like pulling teeth for the Dodgers to have folks touch home plate, and they need something, anything to get things going on offense, whether or not their faith in a diminished Shohei Ohtani is justified.
“I’m not too concerned about the urgency. I just want to keep that intensity,” manager Dave Roberts said of the offense on Wednesday. “It’s going to be good to be at home, play in front of the home crowd, again, win a game and then go from there.”
One way to get the offense going might be the long ball, as the Brewers have hit the only two home runs so far in the NLCS. The Dodgers at home in the regular season hit 101 homers, compared to 103 on the road. But per plate appearance, Dodger Stadium was the plate to be, hitting a home home run once every 29.4 plate appearances compared to one every 31.5 PA away from home.
The Dodgers hit five home runs in the first two games of the Division Series against the Braves.
Left-hander Robert Gasser allowed a perfectly normal 15 home runs in his 21 games and 109 1/3 innings this season, and a home run accounted for the only run against him in his four innings in Game 4 of the NLDS in San Diego.
In two starts against the Dodgers this season, the Dodgers hit three home runs against him — Teoscar Hernández in Milwaukee, Andy Pages and Tommy Edman in Los Angeles — while allowing seven total runs in 10 2/3 innings.
“They know me, and I know them. I enjoy having some familiarity with a lineup,” Gasser told reporters Monday in Milwaukee. “Looking back to the game in August and kind of watching those swings, obviously hitters adjust, but being a good guy in the dugout, watching them right now and seeing how they’ve changed to now and trying to build a plan for them.”
Whatever offense the Dodgers get on Wednesday, it will be backing Blake Snell, who walked five in his last time out, in Game 2 against the Braves 10 days ago, while lasting only 3 2/3 innings.
“A big thing is momentum. Once you shift it, especially at home, anything can happen,” Snell said Tuesday. “We saw what happened when we played Toronto. I’m not worried. We’ve just got to get it going. I think, once we do that, we’ll be fine.”
NLCS Game 3 info
- Teams: No. 2 seed Dodgers vs. No. 1 seed Brewers
- Series: Milwaukee leads, 2-0
- Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
- Start time: 5:08 p.m.
- TV: FS1 (Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci)
- National radio: ESPN Radio (Jon Sciambi, Doug Glanville)
- Local English radio: AM 570 (Charley Steiner, Rick Monday)
- Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (José Mota, Luis Cruz)
