STEP 1 COMPLETE
New faces come up big as Dodgers advance in first leg of World Series journey
GAME 1 DODGERS 6, ATLANTA 0 Muncy sparks Dodgers’ surge
Andy McCullough: Max Muncy watched only a handful of Dodgers games last October. He had spent the season as a member of the Dodgers organization, but not a day as a Dodger. Unable to earn a promotion from Triple-A Oklahoma City, Muncy was unsure if he would re-sign over the winter. If the playoffs aired early in the day, he caught snippets at his home outside Dallas. He skipped the late-night drama of the pennant chase.
A year later, as the lights flickered over Dodger Stadium for the first postseason game of 2018, Muncy occupied his regular place in the center of the Dodgers lineup. He had traveled from a minor league obscurity to the cornerstone of a big league lineup, and he played an integral role in a 6-0 drubbing of the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, as a collection of overshadowed figures from last season shared the spotlight.
Muncy launched a three-run homer in the second inning as the Dodgers ambushed Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz. Left off the postseason roster last October, Hyun-Jin Ryu delivered seven innings of blemish-free brilliance. Absent from the 2017 NLDS roster, Joc Pederson led off with a homer. Considered dangerous only against left-handed pitchers in the past, Enrique Hernandez added a solo shot of his own in the sixth — and he did it against a right-hander.
They said it: “They had their reasons, and I accepted them.” — Clayton Kershaw, on not starting Game 1.
By the numbers: Kershaw had started every postseason opener for the Dodgers dating to 2013.
Bill Plaschke: This 6-0 Dodgers victory in Game 1 of the National League Division Series wasn’t so much a baseball game as a cartoon boxing match, a giant pounding his smaller opponent through the canvas until the only thing visible is a pair of twitching eyes. The only disappointment was that Dodger Stadium did not sell out, perhaps because this is the beginning of a sixth consecutive postseason and, by now, fans are weary of fooling with the preliminary rounds.
Dylan Hernandez: The miracle wasn’t the seven scoreless innings Ryu pitched Thursday. The miracle was that he was pitching at all at this stage of the year…. Ryu was four years removed from his last postseason appearance. In the season that followed that 2014 division series loss, the left-hander was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. The medical literature at the time gave him a 40% to 50% chance of ever again pitching at the level he did in his first two seasons with the Dodgers.
GAME 2 DODGERS 3, ATLANTA 0 Kershaw at his playoff best
Andy McCullough: Clayton Kershaw ripped a pair of towels off his left arm and hopped from the bench. He scooped his glove and tucked his sweat-matted hair behind his ears. He spoke to no one as he bounded up the stairs.
A roar from the Dodger Stadium faithful greeted Kershaw as he reached a personal milestone at 9:01 p.m. Friday. For the first time in a playoff career that stretched back to 2008, Kershaw was about to take a start into the ninth inning.
Inside the dugout, manager Dave Roberts prepared himself for clamor. Because it was all a ruse, a ploy designed to deplete the deficient roster of the Atlanta Braves in a 3-0 victory in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. Roberts was ready for the fallout. After a masterful outing from Kershaw, the manager did not care.
The crowd jeered when Roberts followed Kershaw out of the dugout. Moments after Braves catcher Tyler Flowers was announced as a pinch-hitter, Roberts called upon closer Kenley Jansen, forcing Atlanta to burn another player to bat in Flowers’ place. The fans showered Kershaw with cheers. Roberts heard only boos when he returned to the dugout.
They said it: “That was, for me, one of the best outings that I can recall, in the sense that he used his complete repertoire of pitches.” — Dave Roberts, on Kershaw.
By the numbers: Kershaw made only 39 pitches through four innings and 85 pitches through eight.
Bill Plaschke: Kershaw didn’t just pitch against the Atlanta Braves on Friday in Game 2, he delivered a dizzy, dazzling message strong enough to shake
Dodger Stadium down to its Koufax core.
To the Dodgers management that pushed him off his usual postseason perch, take that . ...
To those weary of trusting him as a postseason ace after so many October disappointments, yeah, you, take that.
Dylan Hernandez: The hair braids are shorter. There’s a slight smile instead of roaring laughter. A cool stride has replaced the rambunctious swagger. This version of Mannywood is more understated than the original by several orders of magnitude. The current protagonist isn’t cracking jokes about appearing on Spanish-language soap operas. He certainly isn’t renaming this city after himself within a few months of his arrival. What Manny Machado does share with his predecessor is his ability to change the game with a single stroke of his Rawlings bat.
GAME 3 ATLANTA 6, DODGERS 5 Dodgers fail to put the series away
Andy McCullough: Justin Turner slipped off his helmet as red fireworks burst above the ballpark. Max Muncy hung his arms over the dugout railing while a techno song from 1999 rattled the rafters of SunTrust Park. Manny Machado had already disappeared inside the clubhouse, where the Dodgers gathered to lick their wounds after a 6-5 defeat to Atlanta in Game 3 of the National League Division Series cost them a chance for a sweep.
The game revealed the paradox of the Dodgers offense. The duo of Muncy and Chris Taylor slugged a pair of home runs early in the night, exhibiting enough might to erase a five-run deficit created by rookie starter Walker Buehler. Turner led a brigade of batters who kept innings alive. Yet as the game drifted toward its conclusion, the hitters could not find a lone tally to match the solo home run struck by Braves AllStar Freddie Freeman off Alex Wood in the sixth inning.
They said it: “We did a great job battling back — had lots of opportunities. We just fell a little bit short tonight.” — Justin Turner.
By the numbers: The Dodgers went one for nine with runners in scoring position, stranded nine runners and struck out eight times.
Bill Plaschke: As the game was slowly collapsing around his young shoulders Sunday night, debris piling up, chanting fans closing in, Walker Buehler turned to his puzzled infielders with one last show of his renowned confidence. “We’re fine,” he shouted.
Only this time, he wasn’t. Only this time, his words drifted into the thick air and disappeared into the hostile night. This time, the kid with everything had nothing.
He couldn’t find his composure. He couldn’t find his focus. And, my goodness, he couldn’t find the stinking strike zone…. Before his second-inning pronouncement, Buehler had walked Nick Markakis on four pitches, given up a bloop single to Ozzie Albies, intentionally walked Charlie Culberson and walked pitcher Sean Newcomb with the bases loaded for the game’s first run. Five pitches after that pronouncement, he threw a fastball that Ronald Acuna Jr. ripped into the leftfield stands for a grand slam.
Dylan Hernandez: What, did you think the Dodgers were suddenly a changed team just because the playoffs started? They couldn’t manufacture runs in the regular season. What made you think they were capable of doing that now?
The Dodgers didn’t drop Game 3 because of Walker Buehler. The five-run deficit resulting from Buehler’s rookie moment was erased entirely by the fifth inning. They lost because they couldn’t break a 5-5 stalemate or reverse a 6-5 deficit, the byproduct of finishing the game one for nine with runners in scoring position.
GAME 4 DODGERS 6, ATLANTA 2 Machado strikes the biggest blow
Andy McCullough: Baseball is not predicated on violence. The sport revolves around grace and grit, subtlety and subterfuge, deception and dexterity. The game does not celebrate the brutal.
Yet there is no other way to describe what transpired in the seventh inning Monday. Manny Machado committed a violent act against a baseball, unleashing all his frustration and force on a 95-mph fastball, launching a concussive, three-run home run as the Dodgers finished off Atlanta in Game 4 of a National League Division Series with a 6-2 victory.
The blast stunned SunTrust Park and delighted the Dodgers. In the dugout, Rich Hill gasped. Clayton Kershaw skipped. Cody Bellinger held his arms aloft. Machado popped a wad of gum before rounding the bases. A parade of hitters climbed the steps to greet him.
Over the offseason, when Machado dives into free agency, his net worth will expand. For now, he still can play a prominent role in the Dodgers’ pursuit of a championship.
They said it: “Get that money. Get that money.” — Joc Pederson, in the dugout to Machado after Machado’s seventh-inning homer.
By the numbers: With the Baltimore Orioles this season, Machado hit .315 with a .963 onbase-plus-slugging percentage. After joining the Dodgers on July 18, he hit .273 with an .825 OPS.
Bill Plaschke: It never gets old, even if it looks so familiar, these Dodgers of October, these boys of fall, scratching out victories and silencing strangers and scraping back toward their first title in 30 years.
It happened again Monday on a night when the Dodgers moved to within four wins of a second consecutive World Series appearance while thousands of fans were moved to tuck away their dumb rubber tomahawks.
For the fourth time in six years, the Dodgers successfully completed the first big postseason step toward fulfilling the dreams of Los Angeles. It’s the first time in franchise history they have advanced to the National League Championship Series for three consecutive seasons. It’s their third postgame party in 10 days. They’ve been there. They’ve done that. Now it’s time for the real work.
Dylan Hernandez: Moments like these were supposed to be only in David Freese’s past. Freese was now 35, almost eight years removed from the night when he forever etched himself into St. Louis’ collective memory.
Only here he was again, on the October stage with which he will always remain associated, clapping to celebrate a sixth-inning single that drove in the equalizing and go-ahead runs in Game 4.
“You never know what this game is going to give you, what opportunities arise for you,” he said. “You just got to be ready. That’s what I learned over the years. Whether you’re in high school, college, whatever, just be ready. You don’t have to be the best player in the world, you don’t have to make the most money, but you’re going to have a shot to do something cool. I learned that early in my career.”