The Dodgers Dodged A Bullet
Things went their way tonight, but the invincibility spell is broken
Blood was in the water tonight. The Padres fresh off a franchise defining win. The Dodgers fresh off the best season in the modern era by run differential. The only other team in the modern era that was close was the 1998 Yankees, a team every Padres fan will remember.
The new postseason schedule could not possibly have been more beneficial to the Dodgers, who came in to a home game fresh from a week of rest, starting their ace Julio Urias, while the Padres were forced to start their 4th starter on the road in game 1.
Mike Clevinger wasn’t sharp. He struggled with control of his fastball, especially to the glove side leaving a few balls trailing out over the plate. The bite on the offspeed stuff came and went. What was apparent throughout the night is that even the amped up adrenaline of the playoffs wasn’t going to bring back Clev’s 95-98 mph heater, which may be gone forever after two TJ surgeries. In the end the Dodgers took Clev for 5 runs in 2.2 innings before Bob Melvin gave him the hook. The Padres trailed 5-0 midway through the 3rd inning.
Here’s the thing, though: for the rest of the game the Padres did not give up a hit. Julio Urias took the mound in the 5th with a 5 run lead and gave up a homerun to Myers, single to Crone, double to Kim, and after productive outs from Grish and Nola the Padres plated 3.
The Pads would bring up the tying run the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings but couldn’t quite break through. The game ended with the tying run at the plate, a grim rain falling over the field, as Kim put a well timed swing onto an offspeed pitch and just missed squaring it up, sending a towering fly ball to left field which was caught for the final out.
Unserious analysts such as A-Rod and Karl Ravech acted like the 5-3 nail biter was a 10-3 blowout . They were performing the fan service that large market lickspittles fall back on anytime a team like the Padres refuses to roll over. Make no mistake, Chavez Ravine let out a collective sigh of relief as the final out was caught.
The only reasonable conclusion from game 1 is that the Dodgers dodged a bullet and owe their win largely to the poor performance of a single Padres pitcher who will not see the mound for the rest of the series. The Dodgers will see nothing but the Padres aces the rest of the series and will have to beat two of Darvish, Snell, and Musgrove to advance. The Dodgers walked away with a win in the easiest game they’ll have all series, and likely all postseason. But the invincibility myth has been pierced. This Dodgers team was dominated after the 3rd inning. Unslayable dragons they are not. Their climb is uphill from here.
For the Padres nothing has changed. This game was a free roll of dice to see if they could steal one from the Dodgers, who held all the cards, and the Pads nearly pulled it off. The real series begins tomorrow and the bottom line is the Padres need 3 wins to advance and will roll out their 3 best pitchers to get it done. A win in game 2, securing a 1-1 split from the Dodgers at home, will shake the baseball world. The Padres faced down the most adverse circumstances any team has dealt with all postseason with aplomb tonight, and the games will only get easier from here. Hall of famer Clayton Kershaw is the Padres next obstacle, but history suggests plenty of reasons for hope:
Keep the faith.
LFGSD