Dodgers Dugout: That wasn’t the Game 4 fans were looking for

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and a 9-2 loss wasn’t exactly the result everyone was expecting.

Game 4 thoughts

—No one knows what a player is thinking, so this is entirely speculative, but it looks like the wild-card game and then a tough NLDS drained the Dodgers.

—“You can be tired and execute,” AJ Pollock, who drove in the Dodgers’ two runs, said after Game 4.

—We can safely say that bringing in starters to pitch key relief innings was a mistake. Max Scherzer said he had a dead arm in his NLCS start, and Julio Urías certainly pitched like he had a dead arm.

—After Game 4, Urías said his arm felt fine though. “No, I felt good. I felt good physically. I just have to give them credit for what they did today.”

—Dave Roberts says just because a decision turned out poorly doesn’t make it a wrong decision. Actually, it does. If I decide to take my normal shortcut to get out of the Dodger Stadium parking lot, and it turns out everyone else has learned about the shortcut and I am stuck waiting in line two hours, then that was the wrong decision to make. It may have been an understandable decision, but it was still the wrong decision.

—It’s tough to watch Justin Turner limp off the field and have to be helped down the dugout steps. No matter what kind of postseason he is having this year, he is one of the best playoff performers in Dodger history.

—And his bat looked like it was coming alive in Game 4.

—Did you notice Albert Pujols walked with him down the dugout tunnel?

—Dave Roberts said it looks like Turner has a Grade 2 hamstring strain, which means he’s done for the postseason if true. We’ll know more today.

—The Braves lost their entire starting outfield at some point this season: Ronald Acuña Jr. (torn ACL), Jorge Soler (tested positive for the coronavirus during the NLDS) and Marcell Ozuna (on administrative leave while domestic abuse allegations are investigated). To make up for it, they acquire Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall and Rosario, who are all excelling against the Dodgers.

—The Dodgers gave Games 1 and 2 away. This time the Braves just flat-out beat them. It was no contest.

—Is it time to give up? Of course not. The Dodgers certainly have the capability to win three in a row. Last season, I was very confident they would rebound against Atlanta. They were a better team, and had a staff full of fresh arms.

—This season, not as confident, mainly because they have a staff of tired arms. A bullpen game today, but who’s going to pitch the bulk of innings? Tony Gonsolin pitched two innings in Game 4.

—Then again, Gonsolin has a 2.85 ERA in his regular season career, but a 9.45 ERA in his postseason career.

—Of course, if the offense doesn’t show up, it doesn’t really matter who pitches.

—It’s hard to win when the first five hitters in your starting lineup go a combined 0 for 17.

—On the plus side, the Dodgers were 1 for 2 with runners in scoring position.

—And then there’s another problem. Let’s say the Dodgers win Game 5. Normally, it looks good to turn to Scherzer and Walker Buehler for Games 6 and 7. But they haven’t exactly looked like Scherzer and Buehler lately. So the 100% confidence isn’t there.

—So, while there’s no reason to give up, there’s no reason to have your head in the clouds either. It will be a lot tougher to come back from a 3-1 deficit this year than the same 3-1 deficit last year.

—Unless maybe they just walk Eddie Rosario every time he comes up.

—My prediction remains: Dodgers in, uh, seven.

Rally time

Teams that have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven MLB postseason series:

1925 World Series, *Pittsburgh Pirates d. Washington Senators

1958 World Series, New York Yankees d. *Milwaukee Braves

1968 World Series, Detroit Tigers d. *St. Louis Cardinals

1979 World Series, Pittsburgh Pirates d. *Baltimore Orioles

1985 ALCS Kansas City Royals d. *Toronto Blue Jays

1985 World Series, *Kansas City Royals d. St. Louis Cardinals

1986 ALCS, *Boston Red Sox d. Angels

1996 NLCS, *Atlanta Braves d. St. Louis Cardinals

2003 NLCS, Florida Marlins d. *Chicago Cubs

2004 ALCS, Boston Red Sox d. *New York Yankees

2007 ALCS, *Boston Red Sox d. Cleveland Indians

2012 NLCS, *San Francisco Giants d. St. Louis Cardinals

2016 World Series, Chicago Cubs d. *Cleveland Indians

2020 NLCS, *Dodgers d. Atlanta Braves

*team had home-field advantage

Note: 2020 NLCS was played at a neutral site, Dodgers were home team for Games 1, 2, 6 and 7.

Dodgers in this postseason

Batters
Mookie Betts, .368 (14 for 38, 1 double, 1 homer, 5 RBIs)
Cody Bellinger, .296 (8 for 27, 1 double, 1 homer, 6 RBIs)
Chris Taylor, .286 (8 for 28, 3 doubles, 1 homer, 6 RBIs)
Will Smith, .278 (10 for 36, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 4 RBIs)
Albert Pujols, .273 (3 for 11)
AJ Pollock, .231 (6 for 26, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs)
Gavin Lux, .214 (3 for 14)
Corey Seager, .205 (8 for 39, 3 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBIs)
Trea Turner, .182 (8 for 44, 2 doubles, 1 RBI)
Steven Souza Jr., .167 (1 for 6)
Justin Turner, .118 (4 for 34, 1 homer, 1 RBI)
Matt Beaty, .111 (1 for 9)
Austin Barnes, .000 (0 for 2)
Luke Raley, .000 (0 for 1)
Billy McKinney, .000 (0 for 1)
Team: .231 (76 for 329, 14 doubles, 9 homers, 35 runs)

Pitchers
Phil Bickford, 6 IP, 4 hits, 0 walks, 4 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Kenley Jansen, 5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 walks, 12 Ks, 2-0, 1 save, 0.00 ERA
Justin Bruihl, 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 walks, 5 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Evan Phillips, 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks, 3 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Brusdar Graterol, 5.1 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 0 walks, 3 Ks, 0-1, 1.69 ERA
Joe Kelly, 4.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 walk, 5 Ks, 1-0, 1.93 ERA
Max Scherzer, 16.2 IP, 10 hits, 4 ER, 5 walks, 23 Ks, 0-1, 1 save, 2.16 ERA
Alex Vesia, 3.1 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 0 walks, 6 Ks, 2.70 ERA
Blake Treinen, 6.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, 7 Ks, 0-1, 2.84 ERA
Corey Knebel, 3.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 6 Ks, 4.92 ERA
Walker Buehler, 14.1 IP, 16 hits, 8 ER, 6 walks, 12 Ks, 0-1, 5.02 ERA
Julio Urías, 15 IP, 17 hits, 9 ER, 3 walks, 15 Ks, 1-1, 5.40 ERA
Tony Gonsolin, 4 IP, 5 hits, 5 ER, 1 walks, 4 K’s, 1-0, 11.25 ERA
Team: 88 IP, 74 hits, 33 ER, 21 walks, 105 Ks, 3.38 ERA

Braves in this postseason

Batters
Eddie Rosario, .467 (14 for 30, 1 triple, 2 homers, 8 RBIs)
Joc Pederson, .348 (8 for 23, 3 homers, 9 RBIs)
Freddie Freeman, .310 (9 for 29, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 RBIs)
Austin Riley, .290 (9 for 31, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 RBIs)
Adam Duvall, .286 (8 for 28, 1 triple, 1 homer, 4 RBIs)
Ozzie Albies, .265 (9 for 34, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs)
Dansby Swanson, .226 (7 for 31, 1 double, 1 RBI)
Travis d’Arnaud, .200 (5 for 25, 1 RBI)
Jorge Soler, .091 (1 for 11, 1 double)
Ehire Adrianza, .000 (0 for 6)
Guillermo Heredia, .000 (0 for 3)
Orlando Arcia, .000 (0 for 3)
William Contreras, .000 (0 for 1)
Johan Camargo, .000 (0 for 3)
Team: .260 (70 for 269, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 10 homers, 34 runs scored)

Pitchers
Will Smith, 6 IP, 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 Ks, 2-0, 3 saves, 0.00 ERA
A.J. Minter, 5.1 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 7 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Jesse Chavez, 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 walk, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Chris Martin, 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Jacob Webb, 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Max Fried, 12 IP, 11 hits, 2 ER, 0 walks, 14 Ks, 1-0, 1.50 ERA
Tyler Matzek, 8.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 4 walks, 13 Ks, 1-0, 2.16 ERA
Ian Anderson, 8 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 3 walks, 8 Ks, 1-0, 2.25 ERA
Charlie Morton, 14.1 IP, 10 hits, 6 ER, 8 walks, 19 Ks, 0-1, 3.77 ERA
Drew Smyly, 3.1, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 2 K’s, 1-0, 5.40 ERA
Luke Jackson, 5 IP, 8 hits, 4 ER, 3 walks, 5 Ks, 0-1, 7.20 ERA
Huascar Ynoa, 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 2 Ks, 18.00 ERA
Team: 70 IP, 52 hits, 20 ER, 27 walks, 78 Ks, 2.57 ERA

NLCS schedule

Game 1: at Atlanta 3, Dodgers 2
Game 2: at Atlanta 5, Dodgers 4
Game 3: at Dodgers 6, Atlanta 5
Game 4: Atlanta 9, at Dodgers 2
Game 5: Today, Atlanta (**Max Fried, 14-7, 3.04 ERA) at Dodgers (Bullpen game), 5 p.m., TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN radio

Game 6*: Saturday, Dodgers (Max Scherzer, 15-4, 2.46 ERA) at Atlanta (TBD), 2 p.m. PT if ALCS is still playing, 5 p.m. PT if not, TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN radio

Game 7*: Sunday, Dodgers (Walker Buehler, 16-4, 2.47 ERA) at Atlanta (TBD), 4:30 p.m. PT, TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN radio

*-if necessary
**-left-handed

In case you missed it

Plaschke: What happened? Dodgers go from miracle comeback to three hours of collapsing cringe

Frustrated Dodgers facing elimination in NLCS again after Game 4 loss to Braves

Hernández: An absence of offense during postseason could be Dodgers’ undoing

Eddie Rosario misses out on cycle, but hits two homers to power Braves’ win

And finally

Dodgers win the 2020 NLCS. Watch and listen here.