Dodgers’ best bullpen might be no bullpen at all

The Dodgers’ best bet for a playoff bullpen might be one that doesn’t ever see the field.

On Tuesday night, two games away from clinching the National League West title, the Dodgers took a look at the setup issues that have chased them over the last month of the season and passed that route entirely.

Starter Zack Greinke gave up two runs in the third inning, then allowed only one more hit in his next five innings of work.

He went eight innings, allowed two runs on six hits and threw 118 pitches -- the most he’s thrown in a start with the Dodgers. Rather than turn the ball over to a set-up man in the eighth, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly decided to keep Greinke in the game.

“Every inning after the sixth I checked with him, and he said he feels great,” Mattingly said after the game. “And after the seventh he felt great, and really even after the eighth. He said he felt good all night. He was sharp, didn’t have a lot of battle innings.”

Then, for the third night in a row, the ball went to Kenley Jansen. The closer had worked three games in a row just twice this year, and totaled 44 pitches in his last two appearances on Sunday and Monday.

But on Tuesday, he only needed 11 pitches to earn his 44th save of the season.

It was simple baseball -- a dominating starter handing the ball off to a closer who is tied for the National League lead in saves. No headaches from an inconsistent bullpen, no second-guessing matchup decisions here or there, no real concerns.

If the Dodgers get these type of starts from Greinke and Clayton Kershaw in the playoffs, the only thing their relievers are going to set up is the bubble machine.

The obvious problem is that Jansen, Kershaw and Greinke can’t pitch every game. On Wednesday, with Kershaw on the mound, Jansen will be unavailable.

Unless Kershaw goes nine innings -- a very real possibility -- Mattingly will be handing the ball to some combination of relievers that have been far from automatic.

After Greinke, Kershaw and Jansen, things get a little more complicated.