The Dodgers bullpen resists the formidable Yankees

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers have a few things going for them: The three killers at the top of their lineup, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Friday hero Freddie Freeman.

A 1-0 lead in the World Series after Friday night’s big, historic 6-3 win over the New York Yankees.

AND that bullpen.

That bullpen we all thought would play a big role in the Dodgers winning a championship.

That group of egoless players who induce nightmares and cause problems.

That group that the Dodgers have relied on to hold the line throughout the postseason, biding their time until their teammates at the plate break through, whether early as they did so many times against the New York Mets in the Series of the National League Championship or much later. like Freeman did with a fairytale swing Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The first baseman’s grand slam in the 10th inning gave the Dodgers a mathematical and emotional boost heading into Game 2 on Saturday, when Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start and try to tie it. Jack Flaherty’s impressive 5⅓ innings in Game 1 before handing it to the team’s stars in the corral.

We know that the Dodgers’ relief corps is superior to that of the Yankees, who blew leads in the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians, and that it relies on the tandem of Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes, the last of which he had 13, the worst in the MLB. saves and was replaced as closer by Weaver late in the season.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ relievers have been doing a lot of heavy lifting all postseason and making it all look easy. Coming into this series, they managed 60⅓ innings (including three starting assignments from Ryan Brasier and Michael Kopech) and receive much of the credit for the Dodgers’ record postseason streak of 33 scoreless innings against the Padres and Mets. .

The quartet of Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech and Daniel Hudson came in having allowed just three runs in their 24 innings.

On Friday, two of those guys were among five relievers who worked against the Yankees’ formidable lineup, allowing just one run in 4⅔ innings of work. Anthony Banda worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam to close the sixth after Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run homer off Flaherty put the Yankees ahead.

Brusdar Graterol returned from a shoulder injury after not pitching since September 24 and pitched one scoreless inning.

“That was the gamble for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We bet on Brusdar’s heartbeat, all that. He hasn’t collaborated forever, he hasn’t put it in an important place, he hasn’t thrown a zero and he has kept us in the game. “It was off tonight.”

And Alex Vesia also returned (from a rib injury) and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Kopech came on in the top of the ninth and got two outs before Treinen took over to close out a scoreless inning.

“Yeah, it was a chess game,” Roberts said. “You’re trying to use the right guys and appreciate that there’s more baseball to be played. “Looking back on it now, it was fun, but right now what you’re really trying to do is play chess.”

Treinen struck out Stanton to start the 10th before Jazz Chisholm singled and stole second and third base, scoring what appeared to be the decisive run on Anthony Volpe’s groundout.

However, the Dodgers hitters were on time and needed to get just one runner to ensure Ohtani an at-bat. They got two; Late reliever Jake Cousins ​​walked Gavin Lux and Tommy Edman reached for an infield single.