NLCS Game 3: Past meets present as three clutch postseason performers help lift the Dodgers
by Cary Osborne
Before Wednesday, one could have flipped to the section in the Dodger history book on postseason heroes and found images of Walker Buehler, Kiké Hernández and Max Muncy.
They each added more on Wednesday.
The one of Buehler coming off the mound breathing fire after striking out Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor in the second inning.
The one of Hernández waving as he rounded the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning.
And the one of Muncy looking toward the seats in right field after his ninth-inning homer.
The three clutch performers helped lift the Dodgers to an 8–0 win in Game 3 of the National League Division Series at New York’s Citi Field. The Dodgers now lead the series 2–1.
There is no longer a prescription for Buehler in his starts. It’s go out and get as many outs as possible.
That was 12 for Buehler on Wednesday, which in the past would have looked like a difficult night.
It was an excellent one for the veteran right-hander in his return season from a second Tommy John surgery.
He didn’t allow a run over four mostly stressful innings. His biggest trick of the night was striking out catcher Francisco Alvarez and then the Mets NL MVP candidate Lindor with a curveball to end the second inning and leave the bases loaded.
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“I think the last time I really made a pitch that, in the playoffs, that kind of got it through was 2020 against Atlanta, kind of a similar situation,” Buehler said. “When you talk about the surgeries and the road and all of that stuff, I think being able to make a big pitch in a big spot is kind of the last thing you check off, but the one thing you want to check off more than anything. And tonight that was a big deal for me.”
“Walker was Walker Buehler, and that’s what we expected,” said Max Muncy. “It’s what everyone in this clubhouse trusted him to be. We were all behind him, and he knew that. And he definitely had the attitude and the emotion to be out there. And he thrives in these moments. There’s never a moment that gets too big for him.”
The Alvarez and Lindor Ks helped the Dodgers hold onto a 2–0 lead, which was built in the second inning with only one hit — an infield single by Will Smith off the glove of Mets starter Luis Severino.
The game was still tight when Hernández gave the Dodgers a jolt.
Mets reliever Reed Garrett was a strike away from getting the third out of the inning when Hernández mashed a two-strike fastball over the wall at Citi Field.
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It gave the Dodgers a 4–0 lead at the time.
“For Kiké to have that at-bat — eight-, nine-pitch at-bat, get the ball up the zone and hit a homer, that was huge. It was enormous. I thought it gave Walker a little breathing room. I thought it allowed for me to use the pen,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And then it allowed guys like Shohei to kind of catch a breath and extend the lead. And obviously Max had a huge game, continues to get on base, gets big hits. But the Kiké homer, biggest hit of the game.”
Shohei Ohtani put the game out of reach with his three-run home run in the top the eighth inning.
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Muncy then added a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning — his 13th postseason homer as a Dodger. That ties the franchise postseason home run record with Justin Turner and Corey Seager.
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Hernández was twice in position to create a game-changing hit in Game 2 of the NLCS. He was in the batter’s box as the go-ahead in the sixth inning and the tying run in the box in the eighth inning, each time making the final out of the frame.
Hernández’s home run in Game 3 was his 10th postseason homer as a Dodger. His last five have all been with a score differential of two runs or fewer, including his critical NLDS Game 5 homer against Yu Darvish in the second inning.
The Dodger bullpen earned the final 15 outs using four pitchers. It’s the sixth time this postseason the Dodger bullpen has worked multiple innings without allowing a run. It’s the fifth time the bullpen has thrown at least three shutout innings.
NLCS Game 3: Past meets present as three clutch performers help lift the Dodgers was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.