Dodgers Opinion: Jays finally execute the blueprint to beat Dodgers

TORONTO — All postseason, pundits have been saying the same thing: the key to beating the Dodgers was to get to their bullpen early. Knock the starter out, and they don’t stand a chance. We’ve seen it play out a couple of times already. The queasy endings of the two wins against the Reds. The way the loss to Philly spiraled out of control with an undermanned pen and Clayton Kershaw left on the mound to wear it.

But never has this weakness been so apparent as on Friday night in Toronto. Manager Dave Roberts tried to squeeze three more outs out of starter Blake Snell precisely for this reason, even though it was apparent he wasn’t at his sharpest after the long layoff. If there’d been a viable middle relief option out there, I guarantee there would have been a handshake and a change made after Snell go through five.

But instead, you saw what happened. A walk. A single. A HBP. And just like that, the bases were loaded with nobody out. And that was the ballgame, essentially. I had zero faith in ANYONE who’d walk through the bullpen door to get out of the jam. It happened to be Emmet Sheehan who was the patsy this time, but it could just as well have been anybody else. And Sheehan wasn’t horrible. In fact, he got a couple hitters in 0-2 counts before losing them and if Mookie Betts had been able to get the infield grounder out of his glove cleanly, he might have gotten a double play to increase the chances of limiting damage. But, without a clean inning to work with, the righty’s margin for error was so small that he didn’t have a chance.

Then, Anthony Banda came in, and well, you saw what happened there. Two homers, including the Addison Barger grand slam. And in the space of ten minutes, they game went from nailbiter to laugher. It was ugly.

And I can’t quite see how the same result can be avoided in the future. If the Dodgers don’t get AT LEAST six quality innings out of their starters, they’re cooked in this series. Simple as that.

Now, I’m not panicking. The Dodger starters are fully capable of reeling off four quality starts in a week. But Dave Roberts needs to rethink how he approaches this series. Here’s some thoughts:

1. Emmet Sheehan isn’t working out of the pen. He was great as a starter during the season, but right now he’s on the struggle bus as a reliever. His postseason ERA is 17.18 and his WHIP is an unacceptable 3.00. He has to be relegated to low leverage situations. Or at the very least, give the dude a clean inning. Sending him into a bases loaded situation is close to managerial malpractice.
2. Give a longer look at Will Klein and Edgardo Henriquez. Klein looked good in his inning of work on Friday. Henriquez has shown flashes of brilliance and possesses wipeout triple-digit stuff. These two guys might need to move up the ladder of trust quickly.
3. Give Banda a game or two to reset. Jack Dreyer can handle the left-on-left situations out of the pen for now. Banda needs to clear his head from that meltdown. Don’t use him until the series is back in LA.
4. A second look at Clayton? I know his first outing didn’t look great, and I know using 22 out of the pen is a risk that hasn’t always panned out in the playoffs. But we can’t just let the guy be a ceremonial member of the roster. Back in August, he pitched very well against the Blue Jays and outdueled Max Scherzer. He’s a competitor. And without Alex Vesia, Kershaw suddenly becomes a viable option out of the pen in leverage. It’s a roll of the dice, but at this point, that’s what almost all of these bullpens guys feels like.

Contrary to what the Internet might tell you this series is far from over. The Blue Jays cracked the code once. They need to do it three more times. And starting on Saturday with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers can put an end to that.

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