by Cary Osborne
The Dodgers came into Seattle for the final three games of the regular season set in the National League postseason.
Nothing could improve or lower their №3 seeding.
But even with a lineup minus most of the regulars and a bullpen game, there were still meaningful happenings on Friday before and during the Dodgers’ 3–2 victory. Seven pitchers combined to limit the Mariners in the Dodger bullpen game.
Emmet Sheehan’s one-inning start signaled a transition for at least the early part of the postseason. Sheehan joined Clayton Kershaw and Roki Sasaki in testing out a short stint. He allowed one unearned run in the first inning and struck out three batters.
The right-hander struck out 35 batters in 25 1/3 innings in September. He also had a 1.42 ERA.
Speaking of Sasaki, he was on the mound in the seventh inning with the potential tying run at the plate in Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh. As “MVP” chants rained down, Sasaki struck the 60-homer slugger out on three pitches.
Sasaki allowed a double to Randy Arozarena in the frame. He retired the other three batters, including two via strikeouts.
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Sasaki has now struck out four of the seven batters he has faced since returning to the Dodgers on Wednesday as a reliever. He has allowed one hit in the two innings. Opponents have swung at 12 of his pitches and missed on seven in the two games.
As auditions continue for the postseason bullpen, dark-horse candidate Will Klein continued a quietly impressive run of late. Klein threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Since he returned from the Minors on Sept. 19, opponents are 2-for-16 with a walk and six strikeouts against the right-hander. Going back to Aug. 26 and combining his numbers from the Dodgers and Triple-A Oklahoma City, Klein hasn’t allowed a run over 13 innings in nine appearances and opponents are hitting .114 against him with 20 strikeouts.
Blake Treinen escaped a jam in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting J.P. Crawford to line out with runners in second and third base. Treinen allowed a run and three baserunners in his inning. He has allowed at least one earned run in four of his last nine appearances.
Tanner Scott escaped with the bases loaded in the ninth, striking out Eugenio Suarez to end the game. Suarez has 49 home runs this season.
Shohei Ohtani upped his on-base streak to 30 games with his third inning walk. He also stole a base to give him 20 this season a year after becoming the first 50/50 player in Major League history.
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The big hit for the Dodgers was Kiké Hernández’s two-run homer in the third inning.
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The Dodgers sat Max Muncy and Tommy Edman on Friday with both dealing with lower-half issues. Edman (ankle) is expected back in the lineup on Saturday. Muncy is expected to play on Tuesday in the Wild Card opener.
Reliever Brock Stewart, acquired from Minnesota before the trade deadline, is done for the season and is due for right shoulder surgery.
And with the Reds beating the Brewers 3–1 and the Mets losing 6–2 to the Marlins, the Reds have taken over the №6 seed in the NL postseason with two games to play. The Dodgers will host the №6 seed on Tuesday in the Wild Card Series.
After clinching the West, Dodgers take the winning to the Pacific Northwest was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.