One more

Dodgers are one win away

Just three weeks ago, the Dodgers were on the verge of elimination. They were trailing the Padres 2-1 in the NLDS. With Game 4 at Petco Park, it was looking like the Dodgers’ season would be coming to a shocking end in the division series for the third consecutive season.

Fast forward three weeks…. the Dodgers are not only still playing baseball, but they’re one win away from winning it all.

Walker F***ING Buehler

There were a number of times during the season where I wrote about Walker Buehler. I was harsh, saying he shouldn’t start another game for the Dodgers this season.

Now, to be fair, it was warranted at the time.

He was horrible for LA in 2024. His ERA was above 5.00 and he had only one win in 16 starts. With the Dodgers in a tight division race, he was hurting their chances every time he stepped on the mound.

With Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone all out for the postseason, the Dodgers had no choice but to turn to Buehler as their No. 3 starter. With a fully healthy rotation, there’s a strong chance that he doesn’t even crack the postseason roster.

Where would the Dodgers be without Buehler?

With a 2-0 series lead, LA turned to Buehler for a critical Game 3. Safe to say, he delivered. The righty — who is known for showing up in the biggest games — added another to his resume. He tossed five scoreless innings, lowering his career World Series ERA to 0.50.

Think about that stat. A 0.50 career ERA in the World Series. That’s just insane.

I know Buehler’s numbers this postseason don’t look too sexy, but that’s all because of the second inning in San Diego back in Game 3 of the NLDS. He should have been charged with zero earned runs that game. Instead, he was tacked with six.

Since that disastrous second inning by LA’s defense in San Diego, here are Buehler’s numbers the rest of the postseason.

12 IP

0 ER

7 H

5 BB

11 K

That right there is the stuff of an ace.

Although Buehler’s stuff isn’t what it once was, his results in October have been what we’ve grown accustomed to. He’s a big-game pitcher and is the guy you want on the mound for a must-win game in October.

I’m not sure what his market will look like this offseason, but Buehler has definitely made himself some money with the way he’s pitched these last couple weeks. Hopefully the Dodgers will be the team writing the check next year.

The offense remains quiet, but it’s been enough

Despite being up 3-0 in the series, the Dodgers’ offense hasn’t really done a whole lot against the Yankees. They’ve scored runs and had some big hits when it mattered, but this isn’t the offense we saw in the NLCS.

The Dodgers were one out away from scoring only two runs in 10 innings in Game 1. They didn’t score over the final five innings in Game 2. They scored only four runs in Game 3, including only two runs over the final eight innings. The offense has been really quiet.

Luckily, the Yankees’ offense has been even quieter.

Imagine if I told you this before the series began. Through the first three games, the Dodgers offense would have these numbers:

• .213 AVG

• .754 OPS

• 106 wRC+

• 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position

• 15 left on base

You probably wouldn’t have a great feeling! Especially considering this offense would be going against arguably the best offense from the regular season.

Well, that’s baseball for ya.

Now imagine if you took Freddie Freeman’s numbers out of the equation. They would look even worse. Thank goodness for him!

That’s the beauty (and sometimes horror) of baseball. You can still win games even while not bringing your best stuff. You can win baseball games by struggling. For the Dodgers, they’ve won three games in the World Series with production from mostly one guy.

---

One more

The Dodgers are one win away from winning the World Series. 24 teams have gone up 3-0 in the best-of-7 format in World Series history. All 24 of them have won it all. 21 have swept, with the other three winning in five games. A series has never even made it to Game 6 with a team going up 3-0.

I don’t know if that is a positive or negative. There’s a 100 percent success rate but that also means the Dodgers could make history for all the wrong reasons.

Just take one inning at a time and win it all tonight to avoid any potential stress!