LOS ANGELES — Shock treatment can be effective in extreme cases.
Something about those back-to-back walk-off losses at Camden Yards in early September got the Dodgers’ attention and awakened the defending champions. They have won 17 of 22 games since then, including two in a row over the Cincinnati Reds to sweep their Wild Card Series.
They spotted the Reds a two-run head-start on Wednesday night but came roaring back to win, 8-4, in Game 2 and eliminate the Reds in quick order to move on to the next round of the postseason.
The Dodgers will travel to Philadelphia on Thursday and open a best-of-five National League Division Series against the Phillies on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. PT. The quick knockout of the Reds gives the Dodgers multiple options at starting pitcher for Game 1 against the Phillies – including Shohei Ohtani who did not pitch in the Wild Card Series.
But the Dodgers couldn’t escape town without another reminder of the baggage their bullpen is carrying. The Reds scored twice in the eighth inning with Emmet Sheehan – one of starters moved to the bullpen to stabilize things – walking two, throwing a wild pitch and retiring just one of the five batters he faced.
With all the focus on the bullpen’s ability to derail the Dodgers’ postseason, another problem was forgotten – poor outfield defense.
Teoscar Hernandez provided a reminder in the first inning. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto hit Spencer Steer with a pitch but was heading for the dugout when he got Austin Hays to pop up into shallow right field near the foul line.
Hernandez came jogging in to make the play but took his eye off the ball and dropped it. Six pitches later, the next batter, Sal Stewart, slapped a two-out, two-run single into right field to get the Reds on the scoreboard first.
The bottom of the Dodgers’ lineup atoned for Hernandez’s sin.
Ben Rortvedt led off the third inning by slicing a double into left field, the first of two hits in the game for the Dodgers’ No. 9 hitter. He moved up on a ground out and scored on Mookie Betts’ RBI single – one of Betts’ four hits, the other three doubles (tying the franchise postseason record for a one game).
Two innings later, the Dodgers grabbed the lead on Kiké Hernandez’s RBI double and Miguel Rojas’ RBI single.
The bottom three hitters in the Dodgers’ order – Hernandez, Rojas and Rortvedt – finished the night 6 for 12 with five runs scored.
It was still a one-run game when Yamamoto ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. Three singles loaded the bases with one out.
The Reds came away empty-handed when Yamamoto got Austin Hays to bounce into a force out at home then struck out Stewart and Elly De La Cruz, each finished off by a curveball from Yamamoto.
The curveball was a critical weapon for Yamamoto against the Reds. He got seven of his 17 swings-and-misses with it.
That work pushed Yamamoto’s pitch count up to 95, though, and the countdown was on to see how much the Dodgers’ unreliable bullpen would have to be asked to get. A four-run bottom of the sixth made that question less compelling.
Again, the bottom of the Dodgers’ order lit the fire. Kiké Hernandez singled and Rortvedt reached on an error by Stewart at first base. Shohei Ohtani drove in one run with a single and Betts another with a double.
After the Reds intentionally walked Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez made up for his error with a two-run single.
Manager Dave Roberts showed his true feelings about the bullpen by sending Yamamoto back out for the seventh inning. His first two walks of the night put two on with two out when Roberts finally came to get him. Yamamoto threw a season-high 113 pitches in his 6⅔ innings.
It seemed to take just as many pitches to get the final seven outs. Sheehan walked two, threw a wild pitch and retired just one of the five batters he faced in the eighth. Alex Vesia loaded the bases with a walk before he got out of the inning.
New bullpen hero Roki Sasaki closed it out in the ninth with two strikeouts.
More to come on this story.