Dodgers done in by one swing, great defense

LOS ANGELES — Ugh. It was one of those nights. Max was great. Treinen was great. Kenley was great. And we still lost. That hurts. Everything went right for the Dodgers on this night except the score. Max Scherzer gave up a solo home run to Evan Longoria in the fifth inning, and that was it. But that was enough. The Dodgers just couldn’t break through against Alex Wood and three Giant relievers, and though they outhit the Giants, they end up on the wrong side of a 1-0 pitchers’ duel. On a blustery night in Dodger Stadium, the home team was shut out, for the second time in three games. They now trail the Giants 2-1 in this best of five series, putting the Dodgers’ backs to the wall the rest of the way.

Wood and Scherzer locked in a duel

Max Scherzer took to the mound on Tuesday night, hoping to improve upon a somewhat shaky Wild Card appearance. And did he ever. Tonight, it was vintage Mad Max. He was just pounding the zone with strikes, taking on hitters with some very nasty stuff all night long. In the first three innings, Scherzer recorded six strikeouts, and was just mowing down the Giants hitters left and right.

Unfortunately, Giants starter Alex Wood was doing the exact same thing. The former Dodger brought the good stuff to the mound, and though the Dodgers had a couple of scoring chances against Wood early, they could not break through. In the third, Albert Pujols (who was 2-for-2 in his first playoff start in nearly a decade) led off with a single. He then advanced to second on a sac bunt from Max Scherzer and went to third on a passed ball. However, a Mookie Betts pop up left him stranded ninety feet from home.

In the fourth the Dodgers put two men on via the walk, but once again were unable to get a clutch hit, as AJ Pollock grounded into an inning-ending force play. Going into the top of the fifth, the two titans of the NL West remained locked in a scoreless tie.

Evan Longoria. Ugh.

Meanwhile Max Scherzer seemed to be cruising. He had only given up a couple of singles in the first four innings and was very much in control, only walking one batter the first time and a half through the batting order. In the top of the fifth, Evan Longoria led off. The former All-Star hadn’t had much of a season, spending a lot of time on the IL, and really scuffling through the final weeks of the year. However, he made up for that in a big way on Monday night.

Scherzer got ahead of him quickly 0-2, and Max was looking for that wipeout pitch to send Longoria back to the bat rack. He gave Longoria a slider and then a curve, but the Giants’ third baseman was able to foul off both of those pitches to keep the count locked at 0-2. In the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Scherzer went back to the fastball, but didn’t quite get the good location he was looking for. He caught way too much of the plate with the pitch and Longoria made him pay. Dearly.

Longoria blasted the pitch deep into the windy night. Leaving the bat at 110 mph, the ball easily cleared the left centerfield fence, landing some 407 feet from home plate. If not for the wind, the bomb off Longoria’s bat might just have made it to Pasadena. Ugh. It was now 1-0 Giants.

Max digs deep, goes seven

The Longoria blast proved to be just a blip on the radar of Max Scherzer’s night. The second the ball left the bat, Max got back to work. Though I’m sure he was kicking himself for giving up an 0-2 home run, Scherzer proceeded to take out his aggression on the Giants’ batting order. After the Longoria home run, the Giants did not get a single baserunner for the rest of Scherzer’s magnificent outing. Aided by some nice outfield defense from Chris Taylor in the seventh, Scherzer retired the last nine Giants that he saw, finishing his night with a lineout off the bat of, you guessed it, Evan Longoria. The final line on a very gritty performance from Scherzer: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 10 K.

Final rally ended by Crawford catch

If Scherzer had gotten any run support at all tonight, we would all be talking about what a brilliant performance he gave in this one. However, that one home run from Longoria would hold up for the rest of the long, frustrating night for the Dodgers.

The closest they would get to a run (and it was very close) was in the bottom of the seventh inning. Reliever Tyler Rogers and his submarine pitches had gotten the Giants the last out in the fifth as well as three in the sixth and one in the seventh. However, pinch hitter Steven Souza, Jr. came off the bench and got a huge one-out single to the opposite field. Will Smith followed up with a sharp single of his own to left, and Rogers’ night was done. Kapler went to the pen for another former Dodger, lefty fireballer Jake McGee for the final two outs of the inning.

Pinch hitter Austin Barnes had the first shot at tying the game, but went down swinging on three straight strikes from McGee. Then, Mookie Betts stepped to the plate, trying to deliver a big postseason moment for the first time in 2021. He got ahead on the count, watching a ball sail wide of the plate. Then, on the next pitch he sent a rocket off his bat hurtling at 100 miles an hour toward left field for a sure game-tying single. However, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford had other ideas. He leapt high in the air and somehow, someway snatched the ball out of the air before it made it to the outfield. Inning over. Rally killed. One-run lead preserved.

Dodgers go quietly (almost) against Doval

Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen couldn’t have pitched any better. Treinen pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Jansen struck out the side in the ninth, but in the end it didn’t matter. The Giants sent Dominican speedballer Camilo Doval to the mound for the final six outs of the game. The Dodgers heart of the order was up in the eighth, but couldn’t get anything going. Trea Turner bounced to third, and Corey Seager and Justin Turner both flew out for a quick 1-2-3 inning for the Giants’ closer.

The home run that wasn’t

In the ninth, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. Chris Taylor flew out to center, and AJ Pollock got rung up on a questionable third strike call. Down to their last out, Dave Roberts surveyed the near empty bench and sent Gavin Lux up to get one last crack on Doval. Lux had been swinging a hot bat down the stretch, so it was not a bad move at all on Roberts’ part to keep the young slugger in his pocket for this last inning.

Lux stepped in against the righthanded Dovall, expecting the gas. Doval delivered his first pitch very wide to Lux for an easy take. It was a four seamer at 99 mph, and Lux measured it carefully as it flew by him for ball one. Then, on the next pitch, Doval went back to the high cheese, but his time caught the outside corner with the pitch. Lux absolutely pulverized the pitch at the plate sending it to the deepest part of centerfield. Lux headed for first, his hand raised in triumph, expecting it to clear the fence easily for a game-tying clutch home run.

Did I mention it was windy? Because on any other night, literally any other night, that ball off Lux’s bat was in the seats. But it got caught up in the gusty wind, and instead of the biggest moment of Gavin Lux’s young career, the ball landed harmlessly in the glove of centerfielder Steven Duggar a step short of the warning track. The game was over, leaving a dumbfounded Lux stranded halfway down the first base line, only staring in disbelief over what didn’t happen.

Where have you gone, Clayton Kershaw?

Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Dodgers are faced with a couple of must-win games. They must somehow figure out their pitching on Tuesday, and hope that the offense can awaken from its slumber to force a Game 5 up in Oracle Park on Thursday night. In a postgame presser, skipper Dave Roberts said that “everything was on the table.” This includes Walker Buehler on three days’ rest. Yeesh, If they can get that win in Game 4, all bets are off in the finale, but it would figure to be Julio Urias on regular rest. It will be either a glorious comeback or one of the biggest disappointments in Dodgers’ postseason history. There is no middle ground now. Okay, boys, let’s do this!