LOS ANGELES — Even though most of the Dodgers’ relievers never got their numbers called in the first two games of the National League Championship Series in Milwaukee, it didn’t take away from their focus.
They have it ingrained in them — Don’t get caught watching the game. Be ready. Be moving around.
“Anything can happen at any point,” Anthony Banda said. “It is the playoffs, it’s baseball, it’s gonna happen. Stuff happens all the time, so we got to be ready.”
Banda, along with Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen and Roki Sasaki, got their opportunity in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. On the heels of back-to-back eight-plus inning masterclasses by Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first two games, Tyler Glasnow turned in another solid starting effort, allowing just one run on 99 pitches across 5 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers got the final 10 outs from the bullpen to finish off a 3-1 win over the Brewers on Thursday, a task that seemed monumental considering how beleaguered they’ve looked down the stretch. But the Dodgers — and manager Dave Roberts — never doubted.
“The thing about our guys is they’re battle tested,” Roberts said. “And they know that I’ve never lost faith in them. They’ve never lost confidence in each other. So to see what they’re doing right now, I’m not surprised.
“We knew all along we were going to need these guys. And these guys are delivering, which is huge. We’re doing a great job of preventing runs. And the bullpen deserves a lot of credit.”
Now, the Dodgers are one win away from returning to the World Series.
Roberts turned to Vesia, who began this postseason run by allowing two runs in one-third of an inning to the Reds in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series, to get the final out in the sixth on Thursday in relief of Glasnow with a runner on base. Vesia threw three pitches, attacking the upper part of the zone and freezing Joey Ortiz with a fastball dotted onto the upper outside corner of the zone for a called strike three.
The Dodgers’ bats went on to take control of the game in the bottom half of the inning. Vesia and Treinen worked around a leadoff double in the seventh, which ended up being the last baserunner the Brewers would have in the game.
“It’s a good feeling, to get outs, lock down the back half,” Vesia said. “Obviously, Tyler Glasnow was great. For myself, it was kind of one pitch at a time. Obviously, giving up the double wasn’t ideal. Blake comes in, continues to battle. Banda comes in, awesome. And then, you know, Roki comes in pumping 100. It was a good day for the boys.”
The Dodgers have now won four straight postseason games, allowing no more than four hits and one run or fewer in each of them. No other team in MLB history has done so before. They’re also the sixth team to win four straight playoff games without allowing more than one run, and the first since 1996.
“This whole postseason, a lot of guys have stepped up,” Glasnow said. “Incredible just to sit and relax and have a lot of confidence in them. You feel pretty comfortable when anyone in our bullpen is out there.”
Banda added that Thursday’s performance wasn’t a confidence builder for the bullpen; they’ve had that all along, even in the rough stretches.
After all, October isn’t a time for building.
“We all believe in each other,” Banda said. “We’re just getting on point at the right time, and everybody knows the job that needs to be done, and so we’re just going out there, executing pitches and just passing it on to the next guy.”
Last year, it was the “Dawgs” in the bullpen who carried the Dodgers in the postseason. This year, it’s been the starters. Vesia kept an ear-to-ear grin watching Snell go eight innings, and Yamamoto following it up with a complete game. And now, with the Dodgers able to punch a ticket to the World Series on Friday, he’s focused on taking things inning by inning, out by out.
“We’re just clicking them off one at a time, leaning on each other,” Vesia said. “I think that’s what this group does so special. Today was a great win.”
