HOUSTON VS.
TAMPA BAY
Best-of-five seriesGMToday at Houston, 11 a.m.
1 TB: Glasnow (6-1, 1.78)
HOU: Verlander (21-6, 2.58)GMSaturday at Houston, 6 p.m.
2 TB: Snell (6-8, 4.29)
HOU: Cole (20-5, 2.50)
GMMonday at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m.
3 HOU: Greinke (18-5, 2.93)
TB: Pitcher Morton (16-6, 3.05)
GMTuesday at Tampa Bay, 1:15 p.m.
4 HOU: Pitcher TBA
TB: Pitcher TBA
GMThursday at Houston, 5:30 p.m.
5 TB: Pitcher TBA
HOU: Pitcher TBA
TV: Games on FS1
(Game 3 on FS1 or MLB)
Games 4, 5 if necessaryNEW YORK vs.
MINNESOTA
Best-of-five seriesGMToday at New York, 4 p.m.(^1) MIN: Berrios (14-8, 3.68)
N.Y.: Paxton (15-6, 3.82)
GMSaturday at New York, 2 p.m.
2 MIN: Pitcher TBA
N.Y.: Tanaka (11-9, 4.45)
GMMonday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m.
(^3) N.Y.: Severino (1-1, 1.50)
MIN: Pitcher TBA
GMTuesday at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
4 N.Y.: Pitcher TBA
MIN: Pitcher TBA
GMThursday at New York, 2 p.m.
5 MIN: Pitcher TBA
N.Y.: Pitcher TBA
TV: Game 1 on MLB all
others on FS1 or MLB
Games 4, 5 if necessary
DODGERS vs.
WASHINGTON
Dodgers lead series 1-0
GMat Dodgers
(^1) DODGERS .....................................6
WASHINGTON..............................0
GMToday at Dodgers, 6:30 p.m.
2 WAS:Strasburg (18-6, 3.32)
LA: Kershaw (16-5, 3.03)
GMSunday at Wash., 4:45 p.m.
3 LA: Ryu (14-5, 2.32)
WAS: Scherzer (11-7, 2.92)
GMMonday at Wash., 3:30 p.m.
4 LA: Pitcher TBA
WAS: Pitcher TBA
GMWed. at Dodgers, 5:30 p.m.
5 WAS: Pitcher TBA
LA: Pitcher TBA
TV: All games on TBS
Games 4, 5 if necessary. All PDT.
ATLANTA vs.
ST. LOUIS
Cardinals lead series 1-0
GMat Atlanta
(^1) ST. LOUIS .......................................7
ATLANTA .......................................6
GMToday at Atlanta, 1:30 p.m.
2 STL: Flaherty (11-8, 2.75)
ATL: Foltynewicz (8-6, 4.54)
GMSunday at St. Louis, 1 p.m.
(^3) ATL: Soroka (13-4, 2.68)
STL: Pitcher TBA
GMMonday at St. Louis, noon
4 ATL: Pitcher TBA
STL: Pitcher TBA
GMWednesday at Atlanta, 2 p.m.
5 STL: Pitcher TBA
ATL: Pitcher TBA
TV: All games on TBS
Games 4, 5 if necessary. All PDT.
LATIMES.COM/SPORTS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019D13
DODGERSVS.NATIONALS
Washington AB R H BI Avg.
T.Turner ss 4 0 1 0 .250
Eaton rf 3 0 0 0 .000
Rendon 3b 3 0 0 0 .000
Soto lf 4 0 1 0 .250
Kendrick 1b 2 0 0 0 .200
Cabrera 2b 3 0 0 0 .000
Robles cf 3 0 0 0 .167
Gomes c 3 0 0 0 .000
Corbin p 2 0 0 0 .000
Rainey p 0 0 0 0 ---
Rodney p 0 0 0 0 ---
c-Parra 1 0 0 0 .000
Strickland p 0 0 0 0 ---
Totals 28 0 2 0
Dodgers AB R H BI Avg.
Pollock lf 4 1 0 0 .000
Kelly p 0 0 0 0 ---
Freese 1b 3 0 0 0 .000
b-Pedrsn rf 1 2 1 1 1.00
J.Turner 3b 5 1 1 0 .200
Bellinger cf 2 1 0 0 .000
C.Taylor rf 2 0 1 0 .500
Muncy 2b 3 0 2 3 .667
Seager ss 4 0 1 0 .250
Smith c 4 0 0 0 .000
Buehler p 2 0 0 0 .000
a-Hernandez 1 0 0 0 .000
Kolarek p 0 0 0 0 ---
Maeda p 0 0 0 0 ---
d-Lux 2b 1 1 1 1 1.00
Totals 32 6 7 5
Washington 000 000 000 — 0 2 2
Dodgers 100 010 22x — 6 7 0
a-flied out for Buehler in the 6th. b-walked for Freese in the 7th.
c-grounded out for Rodney in the 8th. d-homered for Maeda in the
8th.
Walks—Washington 3: Eaton 1, Rendon 1, Kendrick 1. Dodgers 7:
Pollock 1, Pederson 1, Bellinger 2, C.Taylor 2, Muncy 1.
Strikeouts—Washington 13: T.Turner 1, Eaton 1, Rendon 2, Soto
2, Kendrick 1, Robles 1, Gomes 3, Corbin 2. Dodgers 12: Pollock 3,
Freese 2, J.Turner 2, Bellinger 2, Smith 2, Buehler 1.
E—Kendrick 2 (2). LOB—Washington 4, Dodgers 9. 2B—T. Tu r n e r
(1). HR—Lux (1), off Strickland; Pederson (1), off Strickland.
RBIs—Muncy 3 (3), Lux (1), Pederson (1). SB—J.Turner (1), Muncy
(1).
Runners left in scoring position—Washington 3 (Cabrera, Soto);
Dodgers 5 (Seager 2, Pollock). RISP_Washington 0 for 5; Dodgers 1
for 8.
Runners moved up—Soto, Eaton. LIDP—Cabrera.
DP—Dodgers 1 (J.Turner, Freese, J.Turner).
Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Corbin, L, 0-1...............6 3 2 1 5 9 107 1.50
Rainey........................^1 ⁄ 3 1 2 2 1 1 16 54.00
Rodney.......................^2 ⁄ 3 1 0 0 1 1 23 0.00
Strickland....................1 2 2 2 0 1 27 18.00
Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Buehler, W, 1-0............6 1 0 0 3 8 100 0.00
Kolarek, H, 1...............^1 ⁄ 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 0.00
Maeda, H, 1..............1^2 ⁄ 3 0 0 0 0 2 19 0.00
Kelly...........................1 1 0 0 0 2 16 0.00
Inherited runners-scored—Rodney 2-2. PB—Gomes (1).
U—Will Little, Jordan Baker, Ted Barrett, Doug Eddings, Tripp
Gibson, Alfonso Marquez. T—3:23. Tickets sold—53,095 (56,000).
DODGERS 6, WASHINGTON 0
“He’s very, very, very, very, very
confident in himself. He loves it. He
thrives in these situations, and you
saw it again tonight.”
Corbin, meanwhile, gave up a
run in the first inning on four walks
to sink the Nationals into a hole in
his first career playoff start. He re-
bounded to keep the Dodgers off
the board until first baseman
Howie Kendrick’s second error, on
a 96-mph ground ball off Muncy’s
bat, allowed the Dodgers’ second
run to score in the fifth inning.
Corbin surrendered the two runs
and three hits, striking out nine
and walking five.
His departure after 107 pitches
afforded the Dodgers an opportu-
nity to exploit the Nationals’
underbelly — middle relief — and
they did not squander it. With the
bases loaded in the seventh inning,
Muncy smacked a two-out, two-
run single off 42-year-old Fernando
Rodney to give the Dodgers a 4-0
cushion and their first hit with run-
ners in scoring position in seven
tries.
“I just think that the at-bat
quality he’s done all year has been
unbelievable,” Dodgers manager
Dave Roberts said. “He just keeps
having good at-bats.”
Gavin Lux widened the margin
in the eighth inning with a home
run off right-hander Hunter
Strickland in his first career post-
season plate appearance, becom-
ing the youngest player in fran-
chise history — at 21 years and 314
days old — to homer in the postsea-
son. Joc Pederson added a blast off
the right-field foul pole screen later
in the inning to cement the win.
The Dodgers took the field for
their first game since Sunday and
first high-stakes game all season.
The Nationals traversed a different
path.
Washington, at 19-31, owned the
third-worst record in the National
League on May 23. Manager Dave
Martinez’s seat was hot. Some
wondered whether a fire sale of the
club’s high-end talent was immi-
nent. They were forced to play with
urgency every day. That was the
nadir before they emphatically re-
bounded and and finished the sea-
son on a 74-38 run.
The sprint to Thursday forced
the Nationals, riding an eight-
game winning streak, to use Max
Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg
in their win in Tuesday’s wild-card
game. Without the right-handers
available, Corbin was left to make
his first playoff start to open the se-
ries.
It was a promising matchup for
Corbin. The former member of the
Arizona Diamondbacks had held
the Dodgers to two runs in 30^1 ⁄ 3 in-
nings over five starts since the
start of 2018. He throws his elite
slider constantly and regularly
elicits bad swings with it. The Dod-
gers’ objective was capitalize on
the ones he left up in the strike
zone. Their patience was enough to
produce a run in the first inning.
Corbin began his outing by
walking A.J. Pollock. He struck out
the next two batters, but walked
the following two to load the bases
for Muncy. After throwing a ball to
Muncy to begin the at-bat, he got a
visit from pitching coach Paul
Menhart. The discussion did not
reverse Corbin’s troubles. He
walked Muncy to push home the
game’s first run. He wiggled free
when Corey Seager grounded out.
“Tonight it just didn’t seem like
he had his command,” Muncy said,
“and we did a really good job of not
chasing balls out of the zone.”
The Dodgers didn’t threaten
again until the fourth inning.
Muncy and Seager sparked the
danger with consecutive singles.
But Corbin retired the next three
batters to keep the Nationals
within a run. Their luck expired in
the fifth when Kendrick couldn’t
handle Muncy’s ground ball.
The two runs were ample for
Buehler.
His first pitch of the night was a
98-mph fastball — his first of 47
fastballs — just off the plate to Trea
Turner. The adrenaline was rush-
ing, but he quickly discovered the
rhythm he was seeking in his final
regular-season outing. After that
start last Friday, Buehler, never
afraid to experiment, said he was
“tinkering” with his delivery. He
was sure he would find it.
“Just kind of a reset button for
me,” Buehler said.
Buehler faced the minimum
over three innings before suddenly
losing his command in the fourth
and issuing three walks to load the
bases with two outs for Asdrubal
Cabrera. Pitching coach Rich Hon-
eycutt appeared for a chat to estab-
lish a plan to attack the veteran in-
fielder. The result was consecutive
curveballs. Cabrera tapped the
second one back to Buehler. He
underhanded the ball to first and
pounded his glove in delight.
“From that first throw,” Rob-
erts said, “he was on point tonight.”
JOC PEDERSON FOLLOWS THROUGH on a home run that hit well up the screen on the right-
field foul pole in the eighth inning. The blast came off Washington’s Hunter Strickland.
Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times
Buehler, Muncy deliver
[Dodgers, from D1]
As he was mulling whom to
start in Game 2 of the National
League Division Series, Dodgers
manager Dave Roberts considered
the bullpen too.
He knew whoever he picked to
start Friday night probably would
also be available in a potential
Game 5 on Wednesday. Through
that lens, his choice was easy. He
went with the most experienced
pitcher in his arsenal.
Clayton Kershaw will take the
mound at Dodger Stadium in the
second game of their best-of-five
series against the Washington Na-
tionals. Hyun-Jin Ryu, a Cy Young
Award front-runner who had been
the Dodgers’ best starter for most
of the season but struggled with in-
consistency down the stretch, will
start Game 3 in Washington on
Sunday.
The decision was made “a few
days ago,” Roberts said. “Just ap-
preciating what Clayton has done
out of the ’pen, and you’re talking
about Game 5.”
Kershaw’s postseason career
has been much maligned. In 30
playoff games, the left-hander is 9-
10 with a 4.32 ERA, 1.092 WHIP and
9.8 strikeouts-per-nine-innings, his
blunders often at the heart of the
Dodgers’ repeated October let-
downs over the last decade.
In his six playoff relief appear-
ances, however, Kershaw has given
up only three earned runs in 9^2 ⁄ 3 in-
nings. Last year, he pitched a
scoreless ninth inning in Game 7 of
the National League Champi-
onship Series. In 2017, he tossed
four scoreless innings in Game 7 of
the World Series. In 2016, during the
Dodgers’ only other NLDS meet-
ing against the Nationals, Kershaw
started in Game 1 and Game 4,
then earned a two-out save in
Game 5.
Although Walker Buehler
would be the logical choice to start
a Game 5, Kershaw would be avail-
able to start on regular rest. He
also could come out of the bullpen.
The same would be true of Nation-
als’ Game 2 starter Stephen Stras-
burg, who threw 34 pitches over
three scoreless innings in Tuesday
night’s wild-card win over Milwau-
kee.
“Yeah, in my mind, I like the way
that sets up,” Washington man-
ager Davey Martinez said. “It had a
lot to do with it.”
Strasburg went 18-6 with a 3.32
ERA in 33 starts this season, strik-
ing out 251 and walking 56 in 209 in-
nings. When the Nationals arrived
in Los Angeles on Wednesday,
Martinez told Strasburg, “I would
love for you to go Game 2, but if you
think you need your five days, I get
it, I understand. We can push it
back. Today he came in and, with-
out hesitation, he says, ‘I want the
ball. I’m ready to pitch. I feel
great.’ ”
Martinez said it was important
that Strasburg make the decision.
“The biggest thing was I wanted
him to come to me and I wanted
him to own it,” Martinez said. “I
wasn’t going to pressure him into
doing anything because he’s done a
lot for us already.”
Kershaw was just as eager to
contribute any way he can.
“This year I’ve felt great the
whole year after those first couple
weeks,” said Kershaw, who made
28 starts after missing the team’s
first 17 games with left shoulder in-
flammation. “I don’t think I’ll have
any problem bouncing back.”
Kershaw, 31, wasn’t as dominant
as usual this regular season.
Though he went to his eighth All-
Star game, he posted a 3.03 ERA
(the second-highest of his career)
and surrendered a career-high 28
home runs. He registered only two
quality starts in his final five and
hasn’t pitched more than seven in-
nings all year.
But his track record speaks for
itself. Of the Dodgers’ NLDS pitch-
ers, only closer Kenley Jansen has
more postseason appearances.
Rich Hill is the only other pitcher
with at least 10 playoff starts. If this
series goes the distance, Roberts
wants to know he’ll have the likely
future Hall of Famer in his back
pocket.
“Clayton has done it, he’s done
well,” Roberts said. “You’ve got to
prepare for a Game 5 if it does hap-
pen. What best prepares you for
that? That’s Clayton pitching
Game 2 and [Game 1 starter]
Walker [Buehler] having the op-
portunity to pitch twice in this se-
ries. We just felt very good in that
sense.”
Game 2 might be
Kershaw’s only
start this series
Veteran left-hander faces
Strasburg tonight. He could
also start or relieve in a
potential Game 5.
By Jack Harris
and Mike DiGiovanna
CLAYTON KERSHAW USUALLYgets the Game 1 assignment
for the Dodgers, but his postseason record hasn’t been great.
Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times