Good vibes for Dodgers
Almost always positive and upbeat, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t after Game 1 of this National League Division Series. While everyone else raved about Giants starter Logan Webb’s dominance, Roberts chafed. He wasn’t bothered so much by the results as he was by what he viewed as his hitters’ undisciplined approach.
“To be quite honest, we didn’t make adjustments,” Roberts complained.
He added: “We just chased a lot more than we should have. If you don’t make adjustments, they’re going to keep going to the well.”
It’s easier said than done, of course, when facing top-shelf pitching like that of the Giants. But in the second inning of Game 2, things began to turn for the Dodgers. By the time they poured it on in the late innings of a series-evening 9-2 triumph, they had plenty of reason to feel good about going home for Game 3 with Max Scherzer on the mound.
“It’s interesting how the narrative changes from game to game,” a far more chipper Roberts said late Saturday, before continuing: “It’s a three-game series, we have home-field advantage, and we’ve got Max on the mound. So I like where we’re at.”
The Dodgers’ game plan against Giants ace Kevin Gausman was deceptively simple: Don’t chase pitches outside of the strike zone and don’t bite on the right-hander’s split-finger fastball if it’s diving low toward the dirt. Gausman threw the splitter 35.4% of the time this summer, second only to his four-seam fastball, which he threw 52.7% of the time.
The Dodgers got started in the second inning with help from a surprising place in the lineup. After Chris Taylor doubled, the struggling Cody Bellinger followed by chasing one of Gausman’s splitters down low for strike three. Gausman fell behind with a 2-0 count on A.J. Pollock, the Dodgers’ eighth-place hitter, and with two out and Taylor in scoring range, Giants manager Gabe Kapler ordered an intentional walk, favoring a Gausman matchup against pitcher Julio Urias.
But on a 1-1 count, Gausman, who had held rivals to a .154 batting average with runners in scoring position this season, left a split-finger fastball up in the zone, and Urias, a .190 career hitter, tagged it for an RBI single to right field.
Brewers go with Peralta:
For Craig Counsell, the decision to have Freddy Peralta start Monday’s Game 3 of the NLDS for the Brewers against the Braves was easy.
The manager said he considered no other options.
“Freddy was the starter,” Counsell said Sunday. “That was the plan from probably July.”
The best-of-five series is tied at one game apiece, putting pressure on Peralta and Braves starter Ian Anderson to give his team the edge. Each pitcher has returned from stints on the injured list to feel healthy entering the postseason.
It will be Peralta’s first postseason start.
“It means a lot for me,” Peralta said following the team’s light workout at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Peralta won his only start against the Braves this season, pitching six scoreless innings in a 10-9 win in Milwaukee on May 16.