Albany Times Union

Rookie Buehler looks to eat innings for L.A.

Dodgers need starters to go deeper vs. Brewers

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came into the postseason willing to let his starters go deeper into games.

He has yet to find someone who can stick around.

Hyun-jin Ryu lasted 41/3 innings in Game 2 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Ace Clayton Kershaw managed only three innings in Game 1.

Now, it’s Walker Buehler’s turn. The rookie takes the ball on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, where he was 4-3 with a 1.93 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) during the regular season.

“Obviously threw the ball pretty good at home. But that’s what you’re supposed to do. You protect your home field,” Buehler said Sunday. “Obviously 50,000 Dodger fans behind you doesn’t hurt. And sleeping in the same city that you’re going to play in and not having to fly anywhere is big.”

The teams traded one-run victories in the first two games in Milwaukee, sending the series back to Los Angeles for Games 3, 4 and 5.

Buehler made his postseason debut in the NL Division Series at Atlanta. The right-hander got tagged for five runs in the second inning of a 6-5 loss. He settled down after that in a five-inning outing.

What Buehler had in the NL tiebreaker game was very good.

He tossed one-hit ball into the seventh inning of Los Angeles’ 5-2 victory over Colorado that gave the Dodgers a record sixth consecutiv­e NL West title. He retired his first six batters in the scoreless outing.

That’s the version of Buehler that Roberts wants to see against a Brewers lineup featuring Christian Yelich, Ryan Braun and Jesus Aguilar.

For Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin, Game 3 is a return to the scene of his team’s worst loss of the season.

He was charged with nine runs — eight earned — and five hits in a 21-5 rout on Aug. 2. Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam off the 30-year-old right-hander, who lasted just 41/3 innings.

The Dodgers belted six other homers in that game: two each by Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig, and solo shots from Justin Turner and Brian Dozier.

Chacin rebounded on short rest against Colorado in Game 2 of the NLDS, pitching five scoreless innings.

“Jhoulys is a true competitor, and he’s out on the mound thinking of ways to beat you,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. “He’s got a number of different tricks in his bag, so to speak, that he goes to get outs, and I enjoy that. It’s gamesmansh­ip, it’s competitiv­eness, it’s creativity on the mound.”

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