The Dodgers once again showed an inability to produce with runners on base in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Although the Dodgers walked off the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS to advance to the next round, they did so with a putrid performance from the offense. The Dodgers left a total of 11 runners on base and went hitless with runners in scoring position, with their two runs coming from a bases loaded walk and a throwing error.
Both the Dodgers and Brewers provided next to nothing on offense over the first three innings of Monday’s series opener, as a Caleb Durbin single was the only hit both teams could collect, while the Dodgers put two men on with walks against both Aaron Ashby and Quinn Priester.
Then, the Dodgers began to hit against Priester, as Will Smith and Tommy Edman each singled following a walk to Teoscar Hernández to load the bases with one out. Max Muncy had a perfect opportunity to blow the game wide open, and he nearly did with a ball hit to deep center field. The ball bounced out of Sal Frelick’s glove, ricocheting off the wall back into his glove, where the relay throw beat Hernández to home plate. The Brewers then got the force at third base to double up Smith, and with that, the Dodgers created a new way of blowing chances to score.
The Dodgers got their first extra base hit with a Kiké Hernández double to begin the fifth, and the Brewers elected to walk Shohei Ohtani to put two men on for Mookie Betts. The plan worked out for Milwaukee, and the Brewers managed to turn an inning ending double play.
The Dodgers couldn’t do much to support Blake Snell outside of a Freddie Freeman solo home run that broke the scoreless ice. Thankfully, for the Dodgers, Snell showed out again on Monday, going a postseason-high eight shutout innings while striking out 10 and not allowing a single walk. Snell’s only blemish was the single to Durbin, but after picking him off, he faced the minimum amount of hitters over that span.
The Dodgers, just like in Game 4 against Philadelphia, brought a run home on a bases loaded walk from Betts, giving the Dodgers a much needed insurance run. The Brewers nearly flipped the script on its head, but Blake Treinen managed to leave the bases loaded with the Dodgers coming away victorious.
It was another awful night on the bases for the Dodgers, as they left 11 men on base again and went just 1-10 with runners in scoring position, giving them an awful .063 batting average in those situations. The Dodgers will now send Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for Game 2, and the Dodgers haven’t been all too kind in the run department for him. The Dodgers will face Freddy Peralta, who got roughed up early in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs, but they need to do better than giving their starter just one run of support.