Zero: The whole Dodgers’ offense –– but especially Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith
Really, the 7-4 scoreline in Monday’s Game 2 loss flattered the Dodgers.
asserted
scoreline → flatter → Dodgers
They managed just three hits.
asserted
They → manage → hits
All of their scoring required the help of either a wild pitch or a throwing error from Brewers starter Logan Henderson.
asserted
All → require → Henderson
And once Milwaukee turned to the bullpen, their relievers retired all 15 batters they faced the rest of the way.
asserted
they → turn → way
Still, as has been the case all postseason, it was Ohtani and Smith whose struggles once again loomed largest.
asserted
struggles → loom → ?
From the Nos. 4-5 spots of the order –– after Smith was bumped down from the three-hole pregame –– they combined to go 0-for-8 with three strikeouts.
asserted
they → bump → strikeouts
Even worse for Smith, Monday included a couple of regrettable moments from behind the plate.
asserted
Monday → include → plate
In both the first and third innings, Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw what should have been called third strikes against Brice Turang.
asserted
what → throw → Turang
But both times home plate umpire Chris Segal missed the call –– and, most crucially, Smith elected against trying to challenge.
asserted
Smith → miss → call
Manager Dave Roberts didn’t want to second-guess his catcher postgame, while Yamamoto also described both pitches as being “too fine a line on the [edge of the] strike zone” to challenge.
asserted
Yamamoto → want → zone
Still, both times, they missed ABS chances backfired, with Turang doubling and later scoring in the first, then walking and later scoring in the third.
asserted
Turang → miss → third
“It was kind of early in the game, we kind of had him on the ropes,” Smith said, explaining his thought process.
asserted
Smith → have → process
“I figured we could get him out there [without risking the challenges].
uncertain
we → figure → challenges
The Brewers’ bullpen also figured to be one of their strengths in this series.
asserted
bullpen → figure → series
But two games in, their dominance has shifted the scales of the series.
asserted
dominance → shift → series
In Game 1, four Brewers relievers (DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill) combined for 4 ⅔ scoreless innings while working out of several jams with a one-run lead.
asserted
relievers → combine → lead
In Game 2, the group was even more dominant, with four arms (Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Uribe and Ashby again) going 15 up, 15 down over five perfect closing innings.
uncertain
arms → go → innings
The Dodgers’ hope is that, as the series wears on, their lineup will benefit from repeated looks at the group.
asserted
lineup → wear → group
However, they will have to find some sort of answer to the unit’s premium stuff first.
asserted
they → have → stuff
As of Monday night, Roberts was still searching for one.
asserted
Roberts → search → one
“I know that they’ve got good arms,” Roberts said.
asserted
Roberts → know → arms
“But I think they’re just finding ways to win pitches better than we are.”
asserted
we → think → pitches
Fifteen months ago, the Dodgers traded May away as an excess piece of their pitching staff.
uncertain
Dodgers → trade → staff
On Monday, he was the one Brewers pitcher to inherit some danger out of the bullpen, but found a way to limit damage in what would prove to be the Dodgers’ final rally.
asserted
what → inherit → damage
After Henderson’s second error of the game –– on an errant throw while fielding a bunt from Tommy Edman –– allowed a tying run to score and left Edman standing on second, May retired Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández in order.
uncertain
May → field → order
Betts’ grounder did move Edman to third, while Freeman’s sacrifice fly got him home for a brief 4-3 lead.
asserted
fly → move → lead
But May’s performance set the tone for the rest of Milwaukee’s bullpen dominance.
uncertain
performance → set → dominance
And now, he could turn around and be available to start Game 4, in what would be his first outing back at Dodger Stadium since being shipped away by the team.
uncertain
what → turn → team
Key stat: Four
As in, the number of misses Yoshinobu Yamamoto generated from 33 Brewers swings.
asserted
Yamamoto → generate → swings
The resulting 12% whiff rate was tied for the second-lowest of Yamamoto’s career.
asserted
rate → result → career
More consequentially, it stressed his pitch count and prompted his eventual early exit from the game, leaving too large a workload for the Dodgers’ bullpen (which gave up four runs in its 5 ⅓ innings of work) to withstand at a raucous American Family Field.
asserted
which → stress → Field
Quote of the night
“They had much better at-bats than we did across the board, top to bottom.
asserted
we → do → bottom
And then they put the ball in play, created havoc.
asserted
they → put → havoc
That’s what they do, and we didn’t do that.
asserted
we → ’ → that
It captured the many, but ultimately simple, reasons they find themselves facing a daunting two-game deficit as the series shifts back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
asserted
series → capture → night
The Aporia
