The Dodgers are one win away from eliminating the Phillies from the Postseason

What is it with the Dodgers and the eighth inning in October? Los Angeles might be 4-0 in postseason play, but every eighth inning it gives the opponent a chance to come back. Twice against the Reds, the Dodgers allowed a crooked number in the eighth inning to give Cincinnati hope of overcoming a seemingly impossible deficit. In Game 1 in Philadelphia, the home team loaded the bases in the eighth and put the tying run on second base before Alex Vesia came in from the bullpen and got Edmundo Sosa to fly out.

Once again in NLDS Game 2, trouble struck the Dodgers in the eighth inning. The boys in blue were leading 4-0 thanks to a seventh inning rally that featured RBI singles from Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani, but Emmet Sheehan allowed a one-out triple down the right field line by Max Kepler to wake the Phillies up. Kepler scored on Trea Turner’s single, but Sheehan retired Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper to escape further trouble.

The real danger for the Dodgers this time around came in the ninth, and it came because Dave Roberts decided to insert Blake Treinen into the save situation rather than Roki Sasaki, who had closed out Game 2 of the Wild Card and Game 1 of the NLDS with little trouble. Treinen, on the other hand, was coming off a September in which he allowed 10 earned runs (12 total) in nine and one third innings. It was a surprise to probably no one except Roberts that Treinen started the ninth by allowing three straight hits, the last of which was a double that Nick Castellanos hooked down the left field line to score a pair of runs and put the tying run in scoring position.

Still, Roberts would not go to Sasaki. He had to risk the game with Vesia first. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Roberts was not the only lousy manager that evening. Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson asked Bryson Stott to bunt. Not only did that eliminate the chance of the winning run reaching base, but it allowed Max Muncy to field the ball on the left side of the infield and throw to Mookie Betts, who tagged out Castellanos at third. So much for the tying run being in scoring position.

The Dodgers weren’t out of the woods yet, though. The three-batter-minimum rule meant that Vesia had to stay on the mound and pitch to the right-handed Harrison Bader. He ripped a single into left field to reignite Philadelphia’s rally and put Stott into scoring position. Stott then reached third on Mex Kepler’s ground out before Sasaki finally entered the game and retired Trea Turner on a ground ball to second base to end the game. Los Angeles had to make the game as dramatic as possible, so Tommy Edman spiked the throw to first, forcing Freddie Freeman to make a remarkable pick at first in order to avoid a terrible collapse.

Thanks to Roberts finally putting the correct pitcher in the game, the Phillies are down 0-2 against a Dodgers team that appears to be back in championship form. Elsewhere in Monday night Senior Circuit action, the Brewers held serve against the Cubs and pushed them into an 0-2 hole thanks to home runs by Andrew Vaughn, William Contreras, and Jackson Chourio. Chicago jumped out on top in the first when Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run shot off of Aaron Ashby, but Vaughn came back to a three-run job of his own in the bottom of the frame. The Cubs wouldn’t score again off of Milwaukee’s seven pitchers with Jacob Misiorowski doing the most work with three innings and 57 pitches. Chourio’s three-run bomb in the fourth inning put the game out of reach and the Brewers won 7-3.

There was also a big football game on Monday night with Jacksonville upsetting Kansas City 31-28. Trevor Lawrence ran for two scores, including the game-winner in the final minute after tripping over his own offensive lineman. With just 23 seconds left on the clock, the Chiefs were unable to respond. Perhaps the most impressive play Lawrence made on the night was his 33-yard dime to Brian Thomas Jr. to convert a 3rd and 7 on Jacksonville’s final drive. Kansas City might have come away with the win if not for a shocking pick six thrown by Patrick Mahomes to Devin Lloyd that turned a potential 21-14 Chiefs lead into a 21-14 Jaguars lead late in the third quarter.

Jacksonville looks to be a real threat in the AFC after upsetting San Francisco and Kansas City in consecutive weeks. Meanwhile, the Chiefs still have some work to do after two straight win to turn around their 0-2 start. They have to beat Detroit on Sunday in order to get back to a .500 record.

Today we get to see the Detroit Tigers play their first home Postseason game since defeating Cleveland in the Wild Card and stealing homefield advantage from Seattle. After that, the Blue Jays have a chance to send the Yankees packing and complete a three-game sweep in the Bronx. The NHL is also beginning its regular season with a tripleheader. Should be a thrilling evening.

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