The Los Angeles narrowly escaped a dangerous nine innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, taking a 2-0 series lead in the National League Division Series.
read more: Escape Phillies leads Command 2-0 series in NLDS Game 2
The game shouldn’t have been as close as the final score of 4-3 shows, but as the bullpen has done consistently recently (especially after the starting pitcher throws the gem), it was more tense than it needed after the bailiff took over.
Blake Snell started things with six scoreless innings, punching out nine batters along the way. He walked four with one hit, one hit, but he put in four runs after the offense took over the game at the top of the seventh innings – Emmett Sheehan got the ball at the bottom of the frame.
Sheehan was solid in seven innings, but allowed the eighth run. Instead of going with Sheehan in three innings, or even Loki Sasaki, not only allowed one hit and a run he scored in his two postseason relief appearances, but also saw a warm-up in seven innings.
Trainen finished the regular season with a 9.64 ERA in 9.1 innings in September, raising many question marks into the postseason. The 37-year-old right-hander pitched 1.1 innings during the wildcard series, failing to make one hit and a run he scored during that time. However, many believed that Sasaki should take the ball again.
After the game, Roberts talked about putting Trainen in the ninth place, not a young right-handed person.
“I thought about that,” Roberts said he was heading to Sasaki. “He’s not doing two of the three at all. Blake threw some of our biggest outs of the postseason, and I really felt confident in it.
He added: “Fortunately, (Sasaki) was ready when asked. I like him and Trea (Turner) and he made a big out for us.”
After 12 pitches and two run-acquired by Trainen, Alex Vescia came in to secure two outs, but that was Sasaki, who was forced out of the bullpen by closing game two of the NLDS against former Trea Turner.
More news: Blake Trainen calls Loki Sasaki the “Georgeous Blessing” of the
Photo credit: Robert Hanashiro-Usa Today Sports
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