For the Dodgers, the deciding game of their National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres on Friday should be a bullpen game. What other options do they have after eight of their relievers shut down the Padres in an 8-0 victory at Petco Park on Wednesday night, which tied the series at two games apiece?
We've said it all year: This bullpen is special, said left-hander Alex Vesia, who was responsible for five of the 27 outs the Dodgers recorded in Game 4. Of the 21 runs the Padres have scored in this best-of-five series, 15 were scored against Dodgers starters Yamamoto, Flaherty and Walker Buehler.
Bullpen games aren't a sustainable remedy for their starting-pitching problems, as the relievers would be quickly spent if eight of them pitched in every game. But the Dodgers can worry about how they will pitch to the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series once they get there. At the moment, they have to win a single game, and the obvious answer for how to do that is with another bullpen game.
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