NLCS 2024: Dodgers' bullpen gambit backfires in letdown loss vs. Mets

LOS ANGELES — For 33 consecutive innings, Dave Roberts pushed all the right buttons as his pitching staff kept the Los Angeles Dodgers' season alive and took a lead in the National League Championship Series.

But the New York Mets didn’t waver, finally able to crack through and steal Game 2 at Dodger Stadium to make it a 1-1 series with the next three games in New York.

For as much credit as New York deserves for getting to the Dodgers early – six runs scored in the first two innings – it was a questionable call for Roberts, going with a gameplan that was far different from the successful one deployed in the NL Divisional Series. 

In a must-win Game 4 against the San Diego Padres, Roberts went to his high-leverage arms early; Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips were all used by the sixth inning. 

Jjust like the previous bullpen game, went with Ryan Brasier to open on Monday, but this time he gave up Francisco Lindor's leadoff homer. The knockout blow came against Landon Knack, a rookie whose first postseason experience came in the ninth inning of the blowout bullpen win in the last series. Knack gave up five runs in the second inning, capped off by Mark Vientos’ grand slam that wound up being all the runs the Mets needed.

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Roberts said prior to Game 2 that Knack would “take down most of the outs,” but it was a gutsy call to use him with Los Angeles already down in the game. Knack would pitch only two innings.

So why didn’t Roberts use the same strategy that worked before?

“I think in that situation, you still gotta be able to finish the game, and you're talking about the second game right there, and so you have a guy on the mound that has to eat innings,” the Dodgers manager said. “Knack was going to have to pitch at some point in time.”

When asked about why he didn’t opt to use high-leverage pitchers like Kopech, Phillips or Blake Treinen, even though they hadn’t pitched since Friday, Roberts said he didn’t consider throwing them out early in the game. He also noted that Vesia is off the NLCS roster due to injury and Daniel Hudson was “down” for the contest.

“That's probably the biggest kind of impetus for having to or knowing you're going to have to take some outs from that or else you just can’t finish the game,” Roberts said.

Monday was a stern reminder of how much pressure a manager is under trying to maneuver through a bullpen game, let alone in the postseason. One day, it works perfectly and there’s praise. The next, it falls flat and the criticism starts to mount. 

“It all is great when it works well, and guys are throwing up zeros, but you're still facing really good ball clubs, and there is a margin that you have to guard against and kind of really appreciate the cost of the next games,” Roberts said. “When you're on the margins and you lose a couple guys – if guys aren't available – you got to figure out how to get outs somehow.”

One bright spot for Los Angeles was the performance of reliever Brent Honeywell in the loss. A midseason addition who was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates in July, he pitched three scoreless innings with two strikeouts that kept the Dodgers in striking distance.

Roberts applauded the performance from Honeywell, a former top prospect whose career has been derailed by four elbow surgeries. The pitcher said he didn’t know he’d toss three innings, but his mindset was to just keep the game from getting away.

"(Roberts) felt like it was the best chance for us to win the game by leaving me in there and I'll die on that hill any day of the week,” Honeywell said. 

With the series now tied at 1-apiece, it's likely the Dodgers will go with another bullpen game at some point in the series. Walker Buehler is scheduled to pitch Game 3 and Yoshinobo Yamamoto will likely go Game 4, then either Jack Flaherty or a bullpen game in Game 5.

It’s uncertain how Roberts would approach another bullpen game given how things went in Game 2. He said it’s too early to determine that and he needs to “make sure that we learn from some of the things” that went wrong on Monday.

But the Dodgers manager is feeling good about the arms he has available. Yes, none of his more dominant bullpen arms were able to save Game 2, but he likes his chances of what they could do for three games in Queens.

“As far as kind of where we're at, it never feels good losing, but to feel that you've got your high-leverage guys ready to go for the next three games, I feel really good about that,” Roberts said.

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