Bullpen guides Dodgers in Baltimore

In what felt like a weird series, the Dodgers were able to take two out of three in Baltimore. The offense scored a total of 14 runs, though half of those came in their division-clinching win on Tuesday. The offense did their work for the most part, but the work from the bullpen gives them the MVP nods from this series.

In 27 innings, the Dodgers used a total of 18 pitchers. Walker Buehler contributed seven innings in the first game, making it 20 innings from 17 other pitchers. Luckily for LA, Buehler was able to eat most of the innings in the first game, because the next two were bullpen games.

Ross Stripling opened up the game on Wednesday, giving LA three innings. Dustin May followed, giving two innings of his own. It was his second outing since exiting the game in Arizona after being hit in the head by a line drive. He hasn’t allowed a run since.

The rest of the game was a tad shaky, as Caleb Ferguson and Adam Kolarek allowed a total of five runs in a combined ²⁄₃ of an inning.

In yesterday’s game, it truly was an all-hands-on-deck situation. It was expected to be anyway, as Rich Hill was likely going to throw only two innings. He had to be removed after only ²⁄₃ of an inning. Five different pitchers threw an inning, with Kenley Jansen closing things out in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning. Julio Urias struck out two in his inning of work. The Dodgers didn’t allow a hit over the final four innings.

Tony Gonsolin got the most work, hurling three innings. He struck out four and allowed one run, which came courtesy of a home run.

The Dodgers will turn to Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Buehler for their series against the Mets. Hopefully, especially for these first two games, LA can get a good amount of innings out of their starters, and not have to rely so heavily on their bullpen.