Alexander: In the end, Dodgers’ starting pitching wore down

It was amusive portion it lasted.

They played the past 5 innings, per the rules, but the Dodgers’ reign arsenic World Series champions efficaciously ended astir 9:40 p.m. EDT Saturday nighttime successful suburban Cobb County, Ga. Walker Buehler tried to gaffe a 5th cutter past Atlanta’s Eddie Rosario – the hottest hitter connected the planet, oregon astatine slightest this broadside of Houston’s Yordan Álvarez – and Rosario smashed it implicit the close tract partition for a three-run location run.

Game, set, match. The 4-2 nonaccomplishment successful Game 6 of the National League Championship Series ended the Dodgers’ 2021 play with 2 acquainted issues: Failure to instrumentality vantage of violative opportunities (squandered chances successful the 4th and seventh innings) and the residual effects of overthinking pitching decisions.

The homer came connected Buehler’s 70th transportation of the night, and helium was pitching connected abbreviated remainder for the 2nd clip successful this postseason due to the fact that arm fatigue had prevented Max Scherzer from making the Game 6 start arsenic scheduled. Manager Dave Roberts had left-hander Alex Vesia warming up successful the bullpen with 2 outs and the left-handed apical of the Atlanta bid successful mind, but helium stayed with Buehler.

Maybe we should person expected this.

This is simply a franchise with a bequest of starting pitching brilliance. The 2021 team, successful particular, seemed truthful loaded successful the rotation coming retired of outpouring grooming that David Price was a bullpen piece. That was earlier Dustin May needed Tommy John surgery, earlier Trevor Bauer ran into what the TV radical euphemistically telephone “legal troubles” (shorthand successful this lawsuit for allegations of intersexual assault), earlier the deadline commercialized for Scherzer became necessary, and earlier Clayton Kershaw’s elbow and forearm betrayed him again 3 nights earlier the extremity of the season.

By Saturday nighttime they were conscionable astir retired of options. That’s astir apt fitting successful a play successful which 26 players spent a full of 1,283 days connected the injured list, not counting the springtime elbow surgeries that sidelined pitchers Caleb Ferguson and Tommy Kahnle for the season. The Dodgers were not arsenic heavy successful 2021 and were exposed successful the instrumentality to a 162-game season, and exposed adjacent much with Max Muncy and Kershaw unavailable for the postseason and Justin Turner injured successful Game 4 against Atlanta.

There is simply a crushed wherefore determination hasn’t been a repetition champion since the 1998-99-2000 Yankees. And it’s not needfully complacency oregon arrogance; the Dodgers’ dogged pursuit of the Giants down the agelong should person disabused anyone of that notion.

“I mean, it’s pugnacious to triumph conscionable successful general, but going backmost to back, you know, is exponentially harder, particularly with injuries and everything that teams spell through,” outfielder Mookie Betts, who present has been done that peculiar grind twice, told reporters afterward. “It’s conscionable truly hard to do.”

By the end, the Dodgers looked worn out. Especially the pitching staff, and especially the starting pitchers that Roberts, Andrew Friedman and the unit tried to manipulate implicit the past 2 weeks successful hunt of tiny edges. In the end, overthinking did them successful again.

Maybe that ninth inning quality successful Game 5 successful San Francisco didn’t deterioration Scherzer to the nub. But it was an unnecessary risk, and the results were a commencement successful Game 2 of this bid erstwhile helium came retired aft 4-1/3 innings and talked of having a “dead arm.” That fatigue prevented Scherzer, a notoriously ferocious competitor, from starting Saturday, and there’s astir apt a connection there.

In retrospect, Roberts acknowledged successful the Truist Park interrogation country that the Dodgers were “fighting an uphill conflict this full series,” but helium besides said: “If you could warrant that we tin triumph Game 5 with idiosyncratic else, I would person utilized idiosyncratic other different. I conscionable think, successful the moment, talking to coaches, unit and successful peculiar Max … there’s a constituent that you conscionable got to spot the subordinate and I trusted Max, truthful it conscionable didn’t enactment out.”

Maybe sending Julio Urías to the mound 3 times successful a week (and messing with him by utilizing an “opener” successful the archetypal of those games) wasn’t overly impetuous, but it wasn’t necessary. And you’ll ne'er person maine that it didn’t person an effect connected his show successful the past 2 of those appearances, the failed alleviation stint successful Game 2 against Atlanta and the disastrous 5 innings successful Game 4.

After the nine treated Buehler similar the Hope Diamond implicit the archetypal 3 years of his career, helium pitched a career-high 207-2/3 innings successful 2021, 2nd successful the league to Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler. Then helium had to transportation doubly connected 3 days of remainder successful the postseason because, well, what different prime did they have?

The archetypal one, successful Game 4 against the Giants with the play connected the line, helium gave his squad 4-1/3 innings, allowing a tally and 3 hits and helping his squad enactment alive. The 2nd was Saturday night. He gave up Austin Riley’s RBI treble successful the first, ne'er seemed to truly settee into a groove, and gave up a two-out locomotion successful the 4th to Travis d’Arnaud, a broken-bat treble to pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza, and Rosario’s 361-foot rocket into the close tract seats.

Roberts was asked astir leaving Buehler successful and said helium “had capable worldly to get done that and support going.” Rosario swung done 2 93 mph cutters, fouled disconnected the adjacent 2 astatine 93 and 92 and seemed to beryllium getting his timing, fouled disconnected a 96 mph sinker, and past hammered a 94 mph cutter.

“Rosario’s evidently kind of connected a antithetic satellite close now successful presumption of however he’s swinging the bat,” Buehler told reporters afterward. “I thought I made immoderate bully pitches. I thought the 1 helium deed for a homer was a decent pitch, but helium was capable to elevate it and get it retired of there.”

Of the 12 men Buehler faced who made contact, 7 had exit velocities of 95 mph plus. Rosario’s location tally was 104.9 mph, but 2 outs were deed harder than that: Freddie Freeman’s treble play grounder successful the archetypal (106.2) and Joc Pederson’s enactment thrust to 3rd successful the 2nd (113.2).

“I deliberation the biggest takeaway for maine is, you privation to beryllium similar this Herculean happening and spell retired and propulsion and beryllium truly good, and I conscionable wasn’t,” helium said. “And it stinks due to the fact that I deliberation we person a truly peculiar clubhouse and a truly peculiar team, and Game 6, an elimination game, you get the ball, you privation to beryllium amended than that. And I conscionable wasn’t. So (it’s a) hard pill to swallow.”

So we are near with a acquainted refrain, 1 that had go a yearly ritual astatine the extremity of Dodger seasons until … well, until 2020, erstwhile the opposing manager was the 1 making the unforced mistake with a starting pitcher successful a captious game.

In Brooklyn, the refrain aft immoderate play successful which the Dodgers fell abbreviated was “Wait’ll adjacent year.” In 21st period Los Angeles it’s often “Roberts is an idiot.”

Feel escaped to vent, then, but marque definite you prevention immoderate of it for the feline who gives the manager his marching orders.

jalexander@scng.com

@Jim_Alexander connected Twitter