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SAN FRANCISCO — The Dodgers were victimized by a Webb gem.
Buster Posey deed a 3-and-0 fastball from Walker Buehler into McCovey Cove for a two-run location tally successful the archetypal inning and the Dodgers ne'er responded, managing conscionable 5 hits successful 8 innings against Giants starter Logan Webb and losing Game 1 of the NL Division Series, 4-0, Friday nighttime astatine Oracle Park.
The Dodgers spent the summertime trying to drawback up to the San Francisco Giants. The upwind has changed. That pursuit hasn’t. The best-of-five bid continues Saturday nighttime astatine 6 p.m.
The Dodgers were counting connected Buehler’s past of postseason excellence to enactment their champion ft forward. But helium was outpitched by the Giants’ 24-year-old emerging ace making his archetypal postseason start.
Webb befuddled the Dodgers hitters with a late-breaking slider and changeup. Like Bon Jovi, helium did each of his champion enactment successful the 80s. In 92 pitches Friday, helium threw conscionable 25 fastballs, 20 of those sinkers. The remainder were sliders (29) and changeups (38). The Dodgers swung astatine 36 of those pitches – and missed 19 times. Webb struck retired 10 Dodgers and induced anemic contact, producing 11 ground-ball outs. Six of those crushed outs near the Dodgers bats astatine little than 75 mph.
The Giants’ infield had thing to bash with Webb’s gem arsenic well. After Webb’s mistake allowed Corey Seager to scope basal to commencement the 4th inning, Tommy La Stella and Brandon Crawford combined connected a highlight-reel treble play to extremity the inning.
Justin Turner’s crushed shot done the mound skipped past 2nd basal wherever La Stella back-handed it and flipped it from his mitt to Crawford who reached supra his manus to mitt it, stepped connected the basal and fired to archetypal basal to implicit the treble play.
The Dodgers did precise small to unit Webb oregon sound him from his evident off-speed gameplan. Webb threw 12 oregon less pitches to discontinue the broadside successful six of his archetypal 7 innings.
Only 4 pitchers successful postseason past person struck retired 10 without walking a batter successful their postseason debut – Jake Arrieta (2015), Don Newcombe (1949), Deacon Phillippe (1903) and Webb. Of that group, lone Webb and Arrieta did it portion besides holding their hostile scoreless.
Buehler, meanwhile, was the unfortunate of an ambush.
After walking La Stella connected 5 pitches to commencement the archetypal inning, Buehler retired the adjacent 2 but fell down 3-and-0 to Posey.
Buehler hadn’t fixed up a location tally connected a three-ball number since 2018. He had ne'er fixed up a location tally connected a 3-and-0 number arsenic a big-league pitcher.
Posey crushed his 3-and-0 fastball, bouncing it disconnected the smokestacks down the right-field seats and into McCovey Cove for a two-run location run. It was the archetypal postseason location tally for the seasoned catcher – who sat retired the 2020 pandemic play – since the 2012 World Series erstwhile helium took Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer heavy successful Game 4.
Buehler cruised from determination until Kris Bryant led disconnected the seventh inning with a location run. It was the archetypal clip successful 12 postseason starts Buehler gave up 2 location runs and the archetypal clip since the 2nd of those starts (against the Milwaukee Brewers successful the 2018 NLCS) that helium allowed much than 2 runs.
The National League’s starring location run-hitting squad during the regular season, the Giants added a 3rd erstwhile Crawford took Alex Vesia heavy successful the eighth inning.
More to travel connected this story.
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