was like, ‘I can’t believe that Max Scherzer is saying that about you.’ So that was cool.” “So for him to say that, that was pretty cool. “I mean, my experience is slim to none, so every time I go out there it’s a new learning experience for me,” Vesia said before Game 3 against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. The quote did not go unnoticed in the Vesia household. He’s got a great fastball and a great breaking ball, so he can go out there and attack you and do great things.” ![]() I knew in that situation he was the best man for the job. “He’s got a bounce in his step, and he can go out there and pitch really well. “Oh, man, he’s explosive,” Scherzer said of Vesia after Game 2. It didn’t quite match the thrill of striking out Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies to escape a two-on, one-out jam in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series Sunday night, but it was close.Īlex Vesia, a 25-year-old left-hander in his first postseason, earned the praise of three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer after bailing out the Dodgers starter by whiffing the 2020 NL most valuable player with an 86-mph slider and a 30-homer, 106-RBI hitter with a 96-mph fastball to end the fifth inning. He had a 3.34 ERA during the regular season while making a major-league-most 33 starts. Primarily a four-seam, curveball, sinker pitcher, Morton’s fastball still sits in the mid-90-mph range. ![]() In two starts against the Dodgers during this year’s regular season, Morton gave up five runs (three earned) in 11 innings. Morton faced the Dodgers again in last year’s World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up five runs in 4 1/3 innings in Game 3. On the mound, the Braves will turn to veteran Charlie Morton, a 37-year-old right-hander who has postseason history against the Dodgers.Īs a member of the Houston Astros in 2017, Morton had two strong outings against the Dodgers in that year’s World Series, including a one-run, four-inning relief outing to finish off the Astros’ Game 7 win. Times Sports October 19, 2021īraves notes: The Braves are fielding the same lineup for the third game in a row, keeping three left-handed hitters and one switch hitter in the first five spots against the right-handed Buehler. His first pitch is met with a lot of love from the fans. “You can’t see the spin and that’s where balls, whether it’s sliders, cutters, and just seeing kind of the spin of the baseball, that’s what is a little bit more tough for hitters to adjust with the shadows.” “So certainly it would be nice to have a lead when they start to creep in because it does make it a little bit more difficult. “It’s going to be kind of the middle innings, I think that’s when they will kind of start to be a factor,” Roberts said. One factor to monitor during today’s day game: The shadows. He was nearly flawless in two starts against them during last year’s NLCS, surrendering just one run in 11 total innings. The right-hander has given up four runs in 10 2/3 innings in the playoffs, including only one run in a start in Game 4 of the NLDS on short rest his last time out.īuehler faced the Braves once this year, a seven-inning, two-run, five-strikeout start in August. Walker Buehler will be on the mound for the first time in this series. ![]() The rest of the Dodgers’ lineup from Game 2 remains the same. With Turner back, Chris Taylor moves to left field, replacing AJ Pollock. Manager Dave Roberts said, while the issue will need to continue being monitored, he expects Turner to continue to play every day moving forward. Times Sports October 19, 2021ĭodgers notes: Justin Turner is back in the lineup after being limited to a pinch-hit appearance in Game 2 because of a neck stinger. Here are the lineups for the Braves and Dodgers for Game 3 of the NLCS /sMNlWdCWe4- L.A. At least one more run was needed to win and cut the Braves’ series lead in half, by a club that had squandering scoring opportunities in October down to a science. The home run, as important as it was, didn’t win the Dodgers anything. “We were dead in the water,” manager Dave Roberts said. The swing, a tomahawk chop to the Atlanta Braves’ hearts, replenished the Dodgers’ World Series aspirations. The course of the Dodgers’ season, five outs from a 3-0 ditch just one team has overcome in Major League Baseball history, changed in their 6-5 win Tuesday when Cody Bellinger decided to chase a fastball several inches above the strike zone.īy the time the baseball landed in the right-field pavilion for a game-tying, three-run home run in the eighth inning, the fans, those who stuck around to see Game 3 of the National League Championship Series through, were roaring to a decibel level few have ever experienced inside Dodger Stadium.īellinger hopped around first base, turned to face the Dodgers dugout across the diamond and swaggered around the bases.
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