Is there a law that says the Dodgers can’t play small ball?
MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers executed their game plan and lost. The Milwaukee Brewers executed their game plan and won.
Back in California, Dodgers fans screamed at their television sets. This is postseason baseball, where the best pitchers take center stage and runs are at a premium.
Why don’t the Dodgers at least try to mimic the Brewers? Would a stolen base or a sacrifice bunt every so often kill the Dodgers?
“I think we should play Dodger baseball,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “So, whatever Dodger baseball is, that’s what we should do. We should not try and play Milwaukee Brewers baseball.”
And what is Dodger baseball?
“It’s a very complex thing,” Betts said. “We pitch. We play defense. We hit. We’ve got to figure out a way to get some timely hits. If we’ve got to steal a base, we’ll steal a base. But we don’t need to change our identity.”
In the big picture, no need to overreact to the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss in the National League Championship Series opener.
But take a close look at the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Brewers scored the decisive run. With the score tied 1-1, Garrett Mitchell walked to start the inning, and Cooper Pratt sacrificed him to second. Luis Lara singled him home, scoring a runner in scoring position.
Joey Ortiz then grounded into what would have been a double play, had the Brewers not started Lara from first base. That was huge: Ortiz was out at first but, by staying out of the double play, the Brewers forced Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal to throw an additional 15 pitches to secure that third out.
That forced the Dodgers to remove Skubal from the game after he made 26 pitches in the fifth inning, and 81 overall.
“They’re willing to give up an out to get a guy in scoring position to get a hit,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
The Dodgers have not dropped a sacrifice bunt this postseason. In their World Series championship run last year, they dropped five sacrifice bunts: two by outfielder Andy Pages, who wasn’t hitting; two by light-hitting backup catcher Ben Rortvedt; and one by infielder Miguel Rojas.
This is Dodger baseball: The Dodgers hit 50 more home runs this season than the Brewers, who finished last in the NL in homers.
The Brewers had more than twice as many stolen bases as the Dodgers and more than twice as many sacrifice bunts. The Dodgers’ NLCS roster accounted for six sacrifices this season, including three by infielder-outfielder Tommy Edman.
Brice Turang, who bats second for Milwaukee, homered off Skubal in the fourth inning Sunday and sacrificed in the eighth.
If you want to say the Dodgers should slug away and play for the big inning, fine. If you want to say the Dodgers should be reluctant to bunt in October with players not asked to bunt during the regular season, Edman isn’t buying that.
“It’s definitely tough,” Edman said. “But it’s definitely something that we should all be able to do. If you’re a big leaguer, you should be able to do everything on the field that you’re asked to do. If that’s what the situation of the game calls for, we should be able to do it.”
The Brewers have played five postseason games, scoring 15 runs. They have won four games, three of them by one run. If the Dodgers can take a few big swings, they could get mighty comfortable.
The Dodgers also have played five postseason games, scoring 15 runs. But here’s a defining difference: In each of their five games, the Brewers have two hits with runners in scoring position.
In their five games, the Dodgers have a total of two hits with runners in scoring position.
This is the place where you, gentle reader, remind me that I said the Dodgers executed their game plan. What the heck?
They did, actually: They thought their best chance to win was to run up the pitch count on Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski and get him out of the game early.
Seven of the first nine batters did not swing at the first pitch. More than half the at-bats off Misiorowski took at least four pitches.
They fouled off 20 pitches and got him out of the game after 4⅓ innings, so the Milwaukee bullpen would have to cover more innings than he would.
“We lost, so it didn’t really work,” Betts said. “But we did a good job with some good at-bats and fouled off some pitches and made him work. That’s really all you can do.”
The Brewers have scored five of their 15 runs via the home run, the Dodgers 11 of 15. Do the Dodgers need to mix in some small ball and change their approach at bat?
“I don’t think guys are going up there trying to hit home runs,” Betts said. “Guys are going up there just trying to have good at-bats. Sometimes, you get ‘em. Sometimes you don’t. But we are playing against a really good team. We just have to put it behind us and just come out and play Dodger baseball.”
It’s time for Dodger baseball. Lose Game 2, and the Dodgers will be two defeats from a bitter winter.
