Dodgers Take 2-0 Lead in Intense Series Against Phillies

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00:00Of this Dodgers-Phillies series, we've had some lopsided games in some other series,

00:04something Fink and I talked about in the last episode, but Pete, a couple really close games

00:08was kind of lopsided until it wasn't in this Phillies-Phillies game too, but regardless,

00:13it's just been great baseball in this series. I know Phillies fans are upset, but you got a great

00:18start from Lizardo. You got some fight late in the end of it, and it's not like the Phillies

00:22are just giving this thing up. We'll talk a little bit about some issues, but overall,

00:26it's just been, I would say, just an impressive performance by the Dodgers.

00:31The Dodgers seem inevitable. Let's recap it for those who might have missed it, even though I

00:36don't know how you could have, but I think it's going to highlight some of those issues you alluded

00:41to earlier. No scoring until the seventh inning, as both Blake Snell and Jesus Lizardo were phenomenal.

00:46At one point, Lizardo had retired 17 straight Dodgers, and Blake Snell became the first pitcher

00:52in Dodgers history to allow one or fewer hits with nine-plus strikeouts in a postseason game.

01:00That's right. No Kershaw, no Sandy Koufax. Blake Snell's the first to ever get that feat.

01:07Dodgers put up a four-spot in the seventh, with Quique Hernandez getting it started with a

01:1235.4-mile-an-hour dribbler that barely scored to Oscar, slid right under the tag,

01:18and then Will Smith pinch hit and drove in the first pitch he saw to left field, scoring two,

01:24and then Otani drove home the fourth on a single. Trey Turner would bring in the Phillies' first run

01:29in the eighth, and in the ninth, the Phillies put up two more, but with a runner on second,

01:34nobody out. All the momentum are them. Bryson Stott lays down a bunt. Castellanos out at third,

01:43and the Phillies couldn't bring in that tying run. Dodgers take a 2-0 series lead.

01:50That was a tough play. I assume that's the biggest issue you alluded to.

01:55The bunt or just the... Honestly, the issue, I think, is the back half of that lineup.

02:02We'll talk a little bit about that, but that wasn't the issue late in this game. A couple guys

02:06came up pretty big, whether it was off the bench or whatever it may be, but you had all the pressure,

02:11and I want to kind of start at the end here, and then we'll work backwards, but I just felt like,

02:16okay, ninth inning, this Dodgers bullpen has definitely had some challenges, and they haven't

02:21gotten an out yet, right? I mean, you start this ninth inning with just hit after hit after hit,

02:27and I feel like the last thing you do, I understand a lefty comes in, you get Vestia in for trying,

02:32and I just still feel like you don't give them an out. That first out is almost a bit of a sigh of

02:39relief, no matter the circumstance, and I understand the goal is to move Cassianos over

02:44to third. Cassianos is not very quick on top of that, so if you're going to do that, maybe pinch

02:49run for him, and the second that he showed bunt on the first pitch, took it for a ball,

02:54it became very clear that the Dodgers were going to run that wheel play, and the design of that

02:58wheel play is going to get third baseman, basically everybody else crashing in, shortstop's

03:02going to slide over to third and be there to go get that lead runner. It was a good bunt,

03:06but the Dodgers were playing for that lead out, and you have Castellanos at second base,

03:10which is why they were playing for that lead out. I just, I hate that. I understand that

03:14Stott is not great against lefties. All he had to do was roll over. It didn't need to be a great hit

03:20here, or maybe drag that bunt if he really wanted to. 1-0 count, I would have rather had him look for

03:26something that he could roll over there, and it was a slider right down the middle. I'm not saying he

03:30would have hit it well. Vestia slider's good, but he could have rolled that over.

03:34Is it Monday morning quarterbacking here, or did you kind of hate it in the moment?

03:38No, I hated it in the moment. As soon as he started to square, I'm like, no, no, no, no,

03:41don't do that, because I'm thinking to myself, at least Bryson Stott can roll over, just like you

03:46said. At least he can maybe hit a fly ball, like pull a fly ball, because Vestia, you know, he's got

03:51that high-ride fastball, so it's easier said than done to just get a ground ball to the right side,

03:56but even a fly ball to right field could potentially move him over. Or, I mean, I know Bryson Stott

04:04isn't the best hitter against lefties, but what about a base hit? Yeah, right. I mean, it's not

04:09impossible. It's not impossible, and you had the Dodgers on the ropes. You had them. It's the

04:16playoffs. We see this. It's all about building momentum, and they built it to the peak in that

04:22inning. You're getting two runs scored. You have no outs. Runner on second base. Bryson Stott has

04:28already had a huge hit for the Phillies throughout their postseason runs of old. Like, Bryson Stott

04:35is not auto-kemp off the bench with all due respect to auto-kemp. It's Bryson Stott. You should trust

04:41him with the bat in his hands rather than bunting, but then I had problems with the bunt. Bryson Stott,

04:46we got to get that down the first baseline.

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