Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

The Dodgers will face an opponent in the NLCS that we're very familiar with, the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers finished a game head of the Giants, beat the Giants 8 of 12 times we played, scored more runs, and allowed fewer runs. On paper things look real good, so what could possibly go wrong?

[NYY #23]

The Dodgers got the start we were looking for with Antonio Sandoval allowing 1 run on 8 hits over 7 innings. He struck out 9 batters and walked none and left the game with a 2-1 lead. Darren Dooley hit a solo homer, while Carlos Vargas drove in the other run.

Weldon Johnston came into the game for a two inning save. There is something to be said about having your best pitcher out there, but we do have other solid bullpen options. Not to mention Johnston is 38 years old and has pitched more innings of relief than any other pitcher on our team than Pat Miler. Maybe the fresher armed Bernardo Davis would be an option? He hasn't given up a run in over a month, plus he's pitched half as many innings this year.

While my breaking point is Johnston's blown saved tonight that led to our 3-2 loss his workload is something I've been concerned with. This is already the fourth time he's pitched more than an inning in the postseason. A loss is just a loss, but I'm definitely concerned with his high usage at this point in the year, and trying not to interfere with my manager.

[NYY #23]

The Dodgers even up the series with a walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth by Ray Harvey that gave us a 2-1 win. While things ended well, Weldon Johnston was back out there today and pitched two innings to pick up the win. He pitched better today, but again I'm concerned about his workload.

Gordon Baird again pitched great going 7 innings and allowing just 1 run. It's a shame our offense couldn't have stepped up to get him the win. It's nice to see Baird having postseason success this year, especially after going 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA last year.

[NYY #23]

The Dodgers are now up 2 games to 1 in the series, thanks to our 4-0 win over the Giants. Carlos Varga had two hits and drove in 3 runs at the plate with a pair of singles.

Chris Moss improved to 3-0 in the postseason with 7 shutout innings, and then finally Weldon Johnston came on to pitch his required two innings for the save. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, and maybe unnecessarily since we've won two games in a row, but I'm not sure why our manager seems to have lost confidence in our bullpen suddenly.

[NYY #23]

The Dodgers are now on the cusp of heading to the World Series after our 9-5 win in Game 4, needing just one more win. Sherman Miller picked up his first win this postseason with 7 innings, allowing 4 runs.

Dan Hardcastle drove in six runs for the Dodgers, with four coming on a first inning grand slam. Antonio Velazquez and Andy Jordan each added three hits.

It was also a good sign that Mauro Moreno was the reliever who finished off the game, pitching the final 2 innings of the game, and allowing just 1 run.

[NYY #23]

The Dodgers will be heading back home after we failed to clinch the NLCS and lost the game 4-0. Antonio Sandoval took the loss after surrendering 3 runs in 6 hits while our offense fell silent, managing just 7 hits, but unable to plate anyone.

Hopefully we can close off the Giants at home after a rest day.

[NYY #23]

If I could just use one word to describe Game 6 of the NLCS it would be heartbreaking. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning Gordon Baird settled down and didn't allow another run over 7 innings. The Dodgers would chip away though, scoring first in the bottom of the fourth when Luke Clark singled, moved to third on a double by Rob Adams, and scored on a wild pitch.

We tied the game in the bottom of the eighth in similar fashion. A Luke Clark single, Rob Adams double, and this time a sacrifice fly by Matt Mills. The comeback was complete, and it would come down to bullpen management.

Bernardo Davis was first out of the pen and retired both batters he faced while throwing 9 pitches. Eduardo Salgado retired the only batter he faced on five pitches. I don't want to second guess, but remember we went through two relievers in an inning, while not allowing a run on 14 pitches. It could be important later…

Weldon Johnston came on to pitch the ninth and didn't allow a run. Nor did he allow a run in the tenth. Or the eleventh. Or the twelfth. On his 54th pitch of the night he did allow a single to lead off the thirteenth though. The 54 pitches were a season high.

So with a runner on first Dave Mobley came in. Would have been nice for him to at least start the inning, I don't get the logic of sending Johnston back out for the fifteenth. Mobley retired the first batter he faced, with the second batter reaching on an error. The implosion began with two walks and two singles and the Giants forced Game 7 with a 5-2 win.

I think tomorrow's an important day for my manager. If we lose it may be time to find a manager who can manage a bullpen.

[Gruber_Tagged_Him]

I think you should fire the manager whether or not you win game 7. Good luck!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Gruber_Tagged_Him

I think you should fire the manager whether or not you win game 7. Good luck!

Thanks! It took a lot of restraint to not fire him right after the game, so he shouldn't get too comfortable!

[NYY #23]

While this may have been a fun NLCS to watch, it wasn't fun for me. I didn't want to watch this game because I was nervous. After being up 3 games to 1 we're now in a must win game. With a worn out bullpen after 13 innings yesterday.

So when Russ Adams hit a two run homer and Antonio Velazquez hit a solo home in the first to give us a 3-0 lead I started thinking about the World Series. When Chris Moss was chased from the game in the fifth after giving up his fourth run of the game I started thinking about our offseason plans.

But a 4-3 lead is certainly not too much to come back from, and in the bottom of the fifth we tied the game with an RBI single by Ray Harvey.

We got solid pitching from our bullpen - Mario Moreno pitched 2 scoreless innings, Dave Mobley a third of an inning, and Eduardo Salgado a third of an inning. Bernardo Davis came on to pitch the ninth and didn't give up a run, and with our offense silent we'd head to extra innings.

It was becoming obvious that it was Bernardo Davis or bust as he pitched the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. Davis ran into trouble in the twelfth, but with two outs in the bottom of the twelfth Andy Jordan drew a walk, Antonio Velazquez singled, Ray Harvey reached on an error, and Darren Dooley singled home the tieing run, with the winning run thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

Bernardo Davis came out to pitch the thirteenth for his sixth inning. He wouldn't allow a run and finished the inning with 70 pitches. His previous highs this year were 2 innings and 32 pitches. But through 13 innings he would do his job (and more).

The bottom of the thirteenth started out with a leadoff double by Ron James. Both Rob Adams and Dan Hardcastle would ground out and not advance the runner. An intentional walk to Matt Mills would put runners on first and second. Ron Lloyd would hit a 1-0 pinch between the first baseman and second baseman, and Adams would attempt to score. Adams isn't a slow runner, and a decent baserunner, but I wouldn't have sent him. The throw, the slide, and the Dodgers are going to the World Series.

What a game, I'm not sure I have anything left to say other than that.

[NYY #23]

It looks like the World Series is going to be a battle against the 103 win Astros. We'll be facing off against the number one offense and top rated pitching staff in the AL. It'll be a tough matchup.

[NYY #23]

Before the top of the first inning was over the Dodgers would take a 6-0 lead. We'd get a leadoff solo homer by Ray Harvey, an RBI single by Antonio Velazquez, a two run double by Ron Lloyd, and a two run homer by Andy Jordan.

Before Antonio Sandoval would throw a pitch he'd have a six run lead, and he'd leave after five innings with a 7-5 lead. We'd need our bullpen to finish the final four innings, and we got two scoreless innings from Eduardo Salgado and two scoreless innings from Weldon Johnston.

The Dodgers win the opening game of the World Series.

[NYY #23]

We didn't get a good picture of what the Astros are capable of in Game 1. We did in Game 2 and will head back home with a tie series after a 13-1 shellacking.

Sherman Miller took the loss after 2 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs. Pat Miller (1 IP, 2 ER), and Jason Powers (0.2 IP, 4 ER) all struggled. Our only run came on a solo homer from Ray Harvey. Game 2 was a game we'd like to forget.

[NYY #23]

Rob Adams had a big game today going 3-4 at the plate while driving in 4 runs on a pair of home runs as the Dodgers beat the Astros 5-4 to go up 2 games to 1 in the series.

Gordon Baird made the start today, but left with a no-decision after allowing 2 runs in 6 innings. Dave Mobley earned the win with a scoreless inning, and Weldon Johnston allowing 2 runs in 2 innings to earn his 6th save of the postseason.

[NYY #23]

Another day, another 5-4 win as the Dodgers are now one win away from winning the World Series. After starter Chris Moss was chased from the game after allowing 4 runs in 3 1/3 innings our bullpen came in and did their job. Pat Miller earned the win after 2 2/3 shutout innings. Eduardo Salgado pitched a 1/3 of an inning, and Dave Mobley pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the save.

Offensively Luke Clark hit a solo home run and we got RBI's from Ray Harvey, Ron James, Darren Dooley, and Quinton Coleman. Let's hope we can close things out before leaving Los Angeles tomorrow.

[NYY #23]

For three innings Antonio Sandoval was cruising, pitching 3 scoreless innings. In the fourth inning the wheels fell off. Sandoval would allow 7 innings while only recording 1 out, while Jason Powers would allow 2 runs in relief. The Astros would roll to a 12-5 win and the series would now shift back to Houston.

Quinton Coleman would go deep, and Dan Hardcastle would homer twice to account for four of our five runs. Andy Jordan singled home the other run.

[NYY #23]

It was a different city for Game 6, but the same results as the Dodgers were blown out in a 9-2 loss to force a winner take all Game 7. Sherman Miller took the loss after allowing 5 runs in 3 2/3 innings.

I'm definitely nervous for Game 7. Not only is our season is on the line I expected this to be a rough offseason. We've got a mix of high priced veterans, poor farm system, and young players quickly getting expensive. Not exactly the best way to build a team for long term success. But we have Game 7 to worry about first, and I'll either dive deeper into our offseason plans, or not care. I don't want to raise the white flag yet, although we don't head to Game 7 with a lot of confidence.

[NYY #23]

With Gordon Baird on the mound I felt pretty good about our chances, until he left the game after 4 innings and 3 runs allowed with an oblique strain. We were down by 1 run and headed into a battle of the bullpens. Eduardo Salgado was first out of the pen for the Dodgers, and he pitch into the seventh, allowing one run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-2.

The Dodgers were down to our final nine outs of the plate with Ron Lloyd up first in the top of the seventh. He'd hit a 3-2 pitch out of the park to cut the Astros lead to 4-3. Andy Jordan was up next, and he'd record out first out with a flyout. Carlos Vargas would walk, and Ray Harvey would single. Ron James would ground out, and the tieing run was at third base with two outs, with the go-ahead run at first. Darren Dooley would stop to the plate next and on the first pitch would give the Dodgers a two run lead with a three run homer!

Darren Dooley was just the second player I selected in the amateur draft for the Dodgers in the third round of the 2078 draft. The first player we selected in the amateur draft was Alin Ardeleanu, one of the main pieces in our trade for Gordon Baird. His career WAR of 4.3 was exceeded by Dooley alone this year (6.1) and Baird (5.3).

A little trip down memory lane before Dave Mobley finished the seventh, and Weldon Johnston would earn his seventh save of the postseason with two innings and the Dodgers win the World Series!

[mirrf]

Congrats!

[pauwoo]

Nice win... who’s next?!?