LOS ANGELES — Even with their flaws exposed, the Los Angeles Dodgers get their first chance to advance out of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies as the matchup shifts to the West Coast for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Strong starting pitching and a late-strike offense allowed the Dodgers to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. An issue has been a bullpen that has carried its second-half struggles into the postseason.
While the Dodgers rode their bullpen to a championship last season, manager Dave Roberts is crafting a new plan. The relievers combined for a 5.26 ERA in September and now have a 6.97 ERA through four postseason games.
Los Angeles has worked around the problem by recording 26 of its 27 outs with three different starting pitchers in Game 1 and used three more starters in Game 2 that delivered 25 of the 27 outs.
“It’s unchartered territory for everyone,” Roberts said of his pitching plan. “So there’s a balance of trying to build up some type of consistency to then get to the next graduation point as far as back-to-back (games) or whatever it is. … Those are things that we talk about daily to put our players in the best position (for success).”
Left-hander Tanner Scott led the club with 23 saves, but he also had 10 blown saves and hasn’t even been used in the Dodgers’ four playoff victories so far.
In Game 3, top starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the call after he did not allow an earned run in 6 2/3 innings against the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round. Yamamoto was 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA in 30 regular-season starts.
The right-hander’s only start against the Phillies in two seasons came in April when he gave up an unearned run over six innings and was left with the loss.
The Phillies have received strong starting pitching over two games with nothing to show for it. Philadelphia also has bullpen concerns after its relievers gave up five runs in the past two games.
On offense, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are a combined 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts. Schwarber’s issues go back to the regular season after he batted .204 with 36 strikeouts over 25 September games, although he did hit seven home runs.
“It’s kind of weird and crazy to see there’s only been one homer hit in the first two games,” Harper said. “Pitching has been good on both sides. I think there’s been maybe two guys that have kind of played well on both sides.”
After using a pair of left-handed starters in the opening two games of the NLDS, the Phillies now turn to right-hander Aaron Nola, who was 5-10 with a career high 6.01 ERA in 17 regular-season starts after dealing with ankle and rib cage injuries.
Left-handed starter Ranger Suarez will be available to back up Nola.
In 12 career regular-season starts against the Dodgers, Nola is 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA and is 1-1 with a 3.76 ERA in four starts at Dodger Stadium.
To give the series an entirely different look, the Phillies received approval from MLB to wear their powder blue throwback road uniforms on Wednesday.
“They like playing in them so we had to go through a lot of hoops with Major League Baseball just to get it cleared,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy will make his first start of the series, while catcher Will Smith (hand) is a possibility to make his first start of the postseason.
Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader (groin) is a game-time decision to start.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
