Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I believe my heart stopped beating after the eighth again and started beating again just a few minutes ago.
—That was a great series between two great teams (gee, this guy likes to use the word great a lot). It felt like a World Series, but the Dodgers have a bit of work to do still.
—I was a little worried about Tyler Glasnow heading into the start, since he hadn’t had a long outing in over a week. I shouldn’t have been worried.
—Funny how baseball works. With a month to go in the season, no one was thinking “Roki Sasaki, bullpen savior,” but here he is, pitching three perfect innings and looking like he’s been a shutdown reliever his whole life.
—The Dodgers gave the Phillies a run when Emmet Sheehan forgot how to catch a ball, then the Phillies gave it back at the worst time for them.
—Am I wrong to feel bad for Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering a little? I’ll take the victory, don’t get me wrong, but your heart has to go out to him a little. Particularly since you know some people in Philadelphia will make his life miserable for a while.
—It was great to see Phillies manager Rob Thomson console Kerkering right at the end of the game. That’s what you want in a manager, putting aside his disappointment to make sure his player is OK.
—Hyeseong Kim missed home plate initially, then went back and touched it.
—The Dodgers really relied on just three relievers when they had a lead in the NLDS, Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Alex Vesia. They were helped by the day off between Games 1 and 2. There will be no extra days off in the NLCS, so it’s unlikely they can rely on only those three guys again. But who else will step up? Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda seem like candidates.
—For you Dave Roberts haters, he didn’t bring them in while the Dodgers were trailing in Game 3, to save their arms. The Dodgers got five innings out of them in Game 4 and don’t win without them. So, Clayton Kershaw did indeed take one for the team, and because of that, it put them in position to close it out Thursday.
—Roberts has his flaws, as do all managers, but you need to tip your cap when he gets it right.
—Tanner Scott had an abscess incision procedure former and was removed from the NLDS roster in favor of Justin Wrobleski. This means Scott can’t be on the NLCS roster. An abscess incision is a surgical incision to drain pus, leaving the wound open to heal from the inside out. Best wishes to Scott.
—Andy Pages went 0 for 5, but got the biggest hit of the night.
—Shohei Ohtani looks lost at the plate.
—I’d rather have Freddie Freeman batting third and Teoscar Hernández hitting fourth.
—The Phillies got only four hits in Game 4 and hit only .212 in the series, scoring 15 runs. The Dodgers hit only .199 in the series, scoring 13 runs.
—The two runs in Game 4 were scored by Justin Dean and Hyeseong Kim. Neither one has come to the plate this postseason.
—Too many people are writing and saying that the NLCS will be a cakewalk compared to this. It won’t be. It will be a struggle, just like this series was. Milwaukee and Chicago are formidable teams. Don’t look past them.
—Game 1 of the NLCS will be Monday, at Dodger Stadium if the Cubs win their series, at Milwaukee if the Brewers win.
—But we will worry about that in the next newsletter on Monday, previewing Game 1. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend.
—And remember, this is supposed to be fun!
Poll time
Which team would you rather have the Dodgers face in the NLCS, the Cubs or the Brewers?
Dodgers postseason stats
Through six games:
Batting
Alex Call, 3 for 3, 1 walk
Ben Rortvedt, .429, 3 for 7, 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 K’s
Mookie Betts, .385, 10 for 26, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 5 RBIs, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .375, 3 for 8, 1 RBI
Kiké Hernández, .318, 7 for 22, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Max Muncy, .313, 5 for 16, 1 double, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .308, 8 for 26, 1 double, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, 1 walk, 7 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .217, 5 for 23, 2 doubles, 3 walks, 5 K’s
Tommy Edman, .200, 4 for 20, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 5 K’s
Will Smith, .154, 2 for 13, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 6 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .148, 4 for 27, 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 3 walks, 12 K’s
Andy Pages, .042, 1 for 24, 6 K’s
Dalton Rushing, 0 for 1, 1 K
Justin Dean, no plate appearances, 1 run scored
Hyeseong Kim, no plate apperances, 1 run scored
Team, .259, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 7 homers, 18 walks, 56 K’s, 5.17 runs per game
Pitching
Roki Sasaki, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves, 5.1 IP, 1 hit, 5 K’s
Tyler Glasnow, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP, 4 hits, 5 walks, 10 K’s
Jack Dreyer, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 2 walks, 1 K
Anthony Banda, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 1 walk, 2 K’s
Blake Snell, 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 5 hits, 5 walks, 18 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-1, 2.53 ERA, 10.2 IP, 10 hits, 3 walks, 11 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 K’s
Alex Vesia, 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 hit, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Blake Treinen, 7.73 ERA, 2.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 10.81 ERA, 3.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Clayton Kershaw, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 6 hits, 3 walks
Edgardo Henriquez, infinity, 0 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks
Team, 5-1, 56 innings, 3.38 ERA, 2 saves, 42 hits, 27 walks, 63 K’s
Dodgers postseason career stats
Includes postseason games for other teams:
Batting
Alex Call, 3 for 3, 2 walks
Ben Rortvedt, .429, 3 for 7, 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .282/.357/.512, 71 for 252, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 15 homers, 39 RBIs, 26 walks, 55 K’s
Tommy Edman, .273/.306/.432, 38 for 139, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homers, 19 RBIs, 7 walks, 27 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .272/.369/.500, 69 for 254, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 14 homers, 36 RBIs, 35 walks, 56 K’s
Mookie Betts, .270/.351/.429, 86 for 319, 25 doubles, 1 triple, 8 homers, 38 RBIs, 42 walks, 56 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .257/.339/.515, 26 for 101, 2 doubles, 8 homers, 25 RBIs, 12 walks, 27 K’s
Miguel Rojas, ..227/.277/.295, 10 for 44, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 4 K’s
Max Muncy, .224/.393/.438, 49 for 219, 8 doubles, 13 homers, 34 RBIs, 57 walks, 80 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .205/.333/.386, 18 for 88, 1 double, 5 homers, 15 RBIs, 16 walks, 34 K’s
Will Smith, .197/.282/.359, 44 for 223, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 8 homers, 31 RBIs, 26 walks, 55 K’s
Andy Pages, .116/.156/.256, 5 for 43, 2 homers, 4 RBIs, 12 K’s
Dalton Rushing, 0 for 1, 1 K
Justin Dean, no plate appearances, 1 run scored
Hyeseong Kim, no plate apperances, 1 run scored
Pitching
Roki Sasaki, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves, 5.1 IP, 1 hit, 5 K’s
Jack Dreyer, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 2 walks, 1 K
Anthony Banda, 1.00 ERA, 9 IP, 6 hits, 7 walks, 13 K’s
Alex Vesia, 1-0, 2.04 ERA, 1 save, 17.2 IP, 12 hits, 11 walks, 22 K’s
Blake Snell, 6-3, 2.92 ERA, 1 save, 61.2 IP, 43 hits, 28 walks, 79 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 3-1, 3.38 ERA, 29.1 IP, 22 hits, 9 walks, 26 K’s
Blake Treinen, 4-3, 4.24 ERA, 4 saves, 40.1 IP, 36 hits, 11 walks, 44 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 K’s
Clayton Kershaw, 13-13, 4.63 ERA, 1 save, 196.1 IP, 171 hits, 54 walks, 213 K’s
Tyler Glasnow, 2-6, 4.89 ERA, 53.1 IP, 47 hits, 30 walks, 71 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 9.00 ERA, 7 IP, 10 hits, 4 walks, 6 K’s
Edgardo Henriquez, 9.00 ERA, 5 IP, 9 hits, 5 walks, 3 K’s
In case you missed it
Dodgers defeat Phillies in a wild, instant-classic walk-off to reach the NLCS
Tommy Edman and Andy Pages put struggles aside to be key part of decisive Dodgers’ inning
Plaschke: A wild finish propels the Dodgers into NLCS and past their toughest playoff test
And finally
Dodgers-Phillies Game 4 highlights. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.