Doing the job
Chacín, Jeffress come up big
LOS ANGELES – The venue changed for the National League Championship Series on Monday evening, but the modus operandi of the participating teams remained the same.
For the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers, it remained all about the pitching, as it almost always does this time of year.
There would be no repeat of Game 2 at Miller Park, when the Brewers blew a three-run lead in the late innings to fall, 4-3. Jhoulys Chacin, the “initial out-getter,” never let the Dodgers up for air and the bullpen pushed aside chatter about its vulnerability to close the deal, 4-0, at Dodger Stadium.
But not without one humongous scare in the bottom of the ninth.
For those wondering if manager Craig Counsell had lost confidence in struggling reliever Jeremy Jeffress, he delivered a resounding “no” with three outs to go. The Brewers’ bullpen gate swung open and in jogged Jeffress, he of the 7.71 postseason earned run average.
Counsell was looking for Jeffress’ luck to turn but, quickly, he found yet more trouble. A single by Justin Turner, who beat Jeffress and the Brewers with a two-run homer in Game 2, and double by Manny Machado. Just like that, second and third, no outs.
No doubt, Brewers fans back home were screaming at their TV sets for Counsell to take Jeffress out of the game but the manager never moved from his perch in the visiting dugout. Jeffress popped up the struggling Cody Bellinger but walked
Yasiel Puig on four pitches. Now, the potential tying run would come to the plate.
Surely, Counsell would remove Jeffress now, right? Don’t call him Shirley. Jeffress stayed.
Jeffress rewarded Counsell’s confidence, no matter how wavering, by striking out the next two hitters, Yasmani Grandal and Brian Dozier. And the collective sigh from Brewers Nation could have matched the Santa Ana winds that tore through the area earlier in the day.
“We’re trying to win the series, not just win games,” Counsell said. “We’ve put ourselves in good shape with how we finished this one. Jeremy Jeffress has been an all-star for us and pitched huge innings for us this season.
“We trust J.J. to get big outs for us. The ninth inning was entertaining, but they didn’t score.”
They certainly weren’t going to admit it beforehand, but the Brewers took the field with more at stake than Los Angeles, particularly after the disappointing loss in Game 2. Chacín has been their rock all season, the only pitcher to stick in the rotation from start to finish.
If they won Game 3, the Dodgers would have beaten the best pitcher the Brewers have to offer. Beyond that, Counsell had not named a Game 4 starter, which likely meant another “bullpen game.” Later, he selected Gio Gonzalez, who went the first two innings in Game 1.
On top of that, Counsell announced beforehand that Wade Miley would pitch on short rest in Game 5 after his excellent – and wasted – performance in Game 2.
So, summing it all up, if the Dodgers beat Chacín, they’d get a bullpen game against them in Game 4 and face a pitcher on short rest in Game 5, which wouldn’t seem to favor the Brewers. That’s all that was riding on the tiebreaking Game 3.
And it all became moot when Chacin delivered 51⁄3 innings of gutty pitching, working around three hits and two walks. The bullpen took it from there, with Jeffress surviving the perilous ninth to close out the Dodgers.
“Jhoulys was just outstanding tonight,” Counsell said. “The last four times we’ve given him the ball, it’s been a big-time performance each time. (Initial out-getters) have been setting the tone for us.”
At the very least, the victory assured at least one more playoff game at Miller Park. Even if the Dodgers win the remaining two games here, they would have to return to Milwaukee to try to eliminate the Brewers, who have no intention of letting that happen.
The Brewers knew they’d have little margin for error facing right-hander Walker Buehler, the Dodgers’ sensational rookie fireballer. They got a good look at Buehler here on July 31, when he pitched seven excellent innings, allowing only five hits and one run with seven strikeouts.
Milwaukee won that game, 1-0, only because Miley was a little better and Lorenzo “Not Today” Cain robbed Cody Bellinger of a home run with a leaping catch against the wall in center.
How hard does Buehler throw, you ask? On his first six strikeouts, the average velocity of his final pitch was 98.5 mph. That’s throwing high-octane gas.
“He’s got big stuff,” Counsell said in a pregame media session. “There’s no question, 98 mph from starters, that’s big stuff. He’s a young pitcher with not a ton of familiarity.
“We have to put pressure on him. That’s the bottom line. You’ve got to put pressure on pitchers and make them make pressure pitches. The mistakes come from men (being) on base, and forcing over and over to make pressure pitches.”
The game began in conditions not particularly favorable for hitters. It was warm – 82 degrees at first pitch – which usually makes the ball carry better at Dodger Stadium, but the strong Santa Ana winds that developed overnight nixed that advantage.
Local TV coverage spent a lot of time during the day covering that weather phenomenon that topped trees and had stuff generally whipping around to create hazardous conditions. The flags were blowing straight in as the teams took batting practice but settled down as the game progressed, becoming less imposing and allowing Orlando Arcia’s two-run homer in the seventh.
For the most part, however, the Brewers’ pitching has been imposing this postseason. Yes, there was a hiccup in Game 2. But it was the Dodgers who were trying to catch their breath after this one.