Dodgers Dugout: After my heart re-starts, some random thoughts about Game 2

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and it seemed like Game 1 ended only minutes before Game 2 began.

Some random thoughts:

—I think (hope) we have seen the last of Kenley Jansen pitching in the ninth inning with the game on the line this postseason.

—And Joe Kelly wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring out there.

—Why didn’t the Dodgers bring in Adam Kolarek, Victor Gonzalez or Jake McGee to face the left-handed hitting Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the ninth? Because of the three-batter minimum. Hosmer was the third batter Kelly faced.

—I’m making an appointment with my doctor today to strengthen my blood pressure medication and see if I can buy or rent a defibrillator.

—The resurgence on offense of Austin Barnes and AJ Pollock this season has been an overlooked reason for the Dodgers’ success.

—And look at all those balls in the dirt Barnes blocked in the ninth inning, preventing the tying run from scoring. That will get overlooked, but it was a huge part of the victory.

—Cody Bellinger is now 4 for 14 this postseason. That was an old-school Bellinger home run in the fourth, hitting it basically off one knee.

—Why is Max Muncy still hitting fourth? He still puts together quality at-bats, making the pitcher work and leading the team with 39 walks this season.

—You can really see the difference in the offensive approach by each team. The Padres are aggressive, frequently going after the first pitch, while the Dodgers try to work the count. The Padres do Clayton Kershaw a favor by doing that, because it allows him to pitch deeper into the game.

—It seemed like Padres batters walked up to the plate with an 0-1 count.

—I find it odd that Kershaw would agree to appear in a commercial where one of his pitches is hit so far that he needs to hop in a car to catch it.

—It seemed every throw from the Dodger infielders to first base was in the dirt.

—I would much rather see Pollock stay in the game rather than Joc Pederson hit for him. I don’t care who is pitching.

—Brusdar Graterol, maybe with rookie nerves, gets called for a balk on his first pitch for not coming to a stop before his delivery. Then, he could have been called for a balk on the very next pitch.

—That was an amazing, amazing catch by Bellinger. You can watch it here.

—Manny Machado getting mad at Graterol for showing some emotion on the field? The same Machado who is the ultimate hot dog? I mean, the jokes write themselves there.

—Graterol and Machado were chirping at each other after Machado’s at bat in the eighth. Something to keep an eye on the rest of this series.

—And then Graterol, after all that emotion, set the Padres down in order in the eighth. Impressive.

—The Dodgers never play little ball? That double steal in the seventh inning was great, and led to two important runs.

—Mike Clevinger has been declared medically unfit to pitch in the rest of the NLDS, so the Padres were allowed to replace him on the roster with right-handed pitcher Dan Altavilla. If Padres advance to the NLCS, Clevinger would be ineligible for that series as well. Altavilla pitched the eighth inning for the Padres in Game 2.

—The fake crowd noise didn’t drown out the FS1 announcers as badly as it did in Game 1.

—There have been 18 home runs in the three games of the Astros-A’s series at Dodger Stadium so far. In the two games in cavernous Globe Life Field, three.

—John Smoltz seems to like the Dodgers more this year than in previous years.

—Near heart attack aside, that was a great baseball game to watch.

Postseason records

I’m not a huge fan of postseason records, since there are so many more playoff rounds than in the past. But a lot of you are and have requested some Dodgers postseason records, so here they are, through Wednesday’s game.

Games played
Justin Turner, 58
Yasiel Puig, 58
Andre Ethier, 51
Joc Pederson, 50
Bill Russell, 49

Hits
Justin Turner, 63
Steve Garvey, 63
Bill Russell, 57
Yasiel Puig, 51
Pee Wee Reese, 46

Doubles
Justin Turner, 13
Carl Furillo, 9
Joc Pederson, 8
Duke Snider, 8
Ron Cey, 7
Jackie Robinson, 7

Triples
Steve Garvey, 3
Davey Lopes, 3
Yasiel Puig, 3
Bill Russell, 3

Home Runs
Duke Snider, 11
Steve Garvey, 10
Justin Turner, 9
Adrian Gonzalez, 7
Joc Pederson, 7

RBIs
Duke Snider, 36
Justin Turner, 27
Ron Cey, 24
Yasiel Puig, 23
Steve Garvey, 22
Davey Lopes, 22

Batting average (minimum 30 plate appearances)
David Freese, .400
Manny Ramirez, .386
A.J. Ellis, .365
Hanley Ramirez, .356
James Loney, .349
Steve Garvey, .346
Charlie Neal, .323
Billy Cox, .302
Ron Fairly, .300
Mickey Hatcher, .300
Ronnie Belliard, .300

We’ll do pitchers tomorrow.

Ask our Dodgers reporters

Have a Dodgers-related question you would like answered immediately? Go here and leave a comment, and one of our Dodgers expert reporters will answer as soon as possible. Or, you can always email me and ask, though titling a section “Ask Houston Mitchell” seemed a little narcissistic, even for me.

Padres-Dodgers schedule

Here’s the NLDS schedule. The Dodgers will be the home team for Games 1, 2 and 5. All times are Pacific.

Game 1: Dodgers 5, San Diego 1
Game 2: Dodgers 6, San Diego 5
Game 3: Tonight, 6 p.m., Dodgers (TBD) vs. San Diego (Adam Morejon**), MLB Network
Game 4*: Friday, 6 p.m., Dodgers (TBD) vs. San Diego (TBD), FS1
Game 5*: Saturday, 5 p.m., Dodgers (TBD) vs. San Diego (TBD), FS1

*-If necessary

**-left-hander

To check and see if you get MLB Network where you live, click here.

In case you missed it

Dylan Hernández: Did Cody Bellinger make greatest Dodgers catch? Only time will tell

Dodgers showed their win in Game 2 of NLDS was built on smarts and riches

Walker Buehler lauds Dodgers bullpen rather than explain his command issues

Padres reliever Ryan Weathers, 20, goes from Class A to first-class debut against Dodgers

And finally

Justin Turner hits a walkoff three-run homer in Game 2 of the 2017 NLCS. Watch it here.