The Los Angeles Dodgers are three wins away from returning to the World Series, but their run through the postseason so far hasn't come without its share of nail-biting moments, thanks to a rocky bullpen.
The Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday, with the Los Angeles pen almost ruining a historic performance from their starting pitcher, Blake Snell. Snell faced the minimum through eight innings, giving up just one hit and striking out 10. The Dodgers led 2-0 going into the bottom of the ninth before things got dicey.
“There’s not a screenwriter in LA that could create more drama than the Dodgers bullpen,” FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd wrote via X.
He certainly wasn't wrong. Roki Sasaki retired the first batter he faced in the ninth before walking Isaac Collins and giving up a ground-rule double to Jake Bauers to put the tying runs in scoring position. A Jackson Chourio sacrifice fly and Christian Yelich walk put runners on the corners in what was now a 2-1 game as manager Dave Roberts brought in Blake Treinen to try and finish things off.
Yelich promptly stole second, moving the winning run into scoring position and Treinen loaded the bases on a walk to William Contreras. He finally struck out Brice Turang to end the nail-biter of a game.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went with Roki Sasaki to close
Snell was at 103 pitches after the eighth inning and certainly could have gone for the complete game shutout. But Roberts went with Sasaki instead, explaining why, via The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
“Dave Roberts called it a ‘50-50’ decision to pull Blake Snell after eight innings,” Ardaya posted via X. “Said the way Roki Sasaki had been pitching recently and the fact that Snell likely would go on regular rest in Game 5 were among the factors he was considering.”
Though Sasaki didn't get the job done, his catcher still came away impressed with his performance
“He was kind of thrown into the fire,” Will Smith said, per Katie Woo of The Athletic. “Probably a little tired. I’m sure he’s not going to admit that, but it wears on you. The mental stress of the playoffs wears on you, the travel wears on you, and the physical aspect wears on you. Dealing with that, I still thought he looked pretty good.”
