Disaster unfolded in slow motion, innings, a playoff series, and a train wreck in what was once a promising and historic 2022 season.
of dodgers bottomed out on the 7th Saturday night leading the San Diego Padres in 3 runs.
They trailed two frames with a combination of poor execution, baffling decision-making and relentless Padres hitting that paved the way for a 5-3 loss in Game 4 of the National League Division Series that eliminated the Dodgers from the playoffs. finished.
In their worst nightmare, they couldn’t have concocted a more tragic scene.
“The shock factor is very high.” Manager Dave Roberts Said. “The disappointment is very high. It’s broken.”
The decisive seventh began with a walk by reliever Tommy Carnley, then a first-pitch single by Padres postseason hero Trent Grisham.
It escalated when Austin Nola reached from first base to second base, scored one run, and mounted the tying run.
Things got worse when Roberts went to the bullpen, bypassing his best reliever Evan Phillips for nine save chances and summoning Yensey Almonte instead. Almonte immediately gave Huang an RBI double to Kim Ha-sun. Soto tied the score.
And it all culminated in a shocking moment in the now infamous fate.
A pickoff signal from the dugout was missed at the start of a two-out at-bat to Jake Cronenworth, intended to give left-handed reliever Alex Bashir more time to warm up in the bullpen. . Instead, Almonte fired a first-pitch ball to the plate.
Despite the mistake, Roberts decided to make a pitching change mid-at-bat. came out.
That 2019 loss Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS?
It suddenly has company.
“We didn’t hit our target. That’s the end result,” says Roberts. “Yeah, this hurts”
This wasn’t supposed to happen to this year’s Dodgers team.
Not after completing a franchise-record 111 wins and being the top seed for the entire postseason.
Not after they’ve told you this is their most talented lineup, deepest bullpen, and most complete team of the last decade.
Especially not after Roberts boldly vouched for the World Series title before the start of the season, saying on a radio show that the Dodgers would be champions as long as “we play a full season and we have a postseason.” .
All seasons are complete. But the Dodgers couldn’t hang around until the end.
On the day of his title prediction, Roberts also warned about the need for a healthy starting pitcher. However, in Petco’s disastrous loss at the Park, it was a surrender by the bullpen that sealed his 3-games-to-1 loss in the best-of-five series.
After the bullpen was one of the team’s few strengths in the first three games, the three relief pitchers combined to allow five runs on five hits and two walks in the fateful seventh inning.
Roberts also answered questions about some of the team’s decisions.
“All I can say is, nothing feels better,” Roberts said. “Of course, we never thought we would be in this position.”
A manager in his seventh year, which includes the 2020 World Series, he has failed every other season in October, but he still tried.
Despite claims for weeks that the team would not designate a closer, instead allowing the matchup to dictate in-game pitching decisions, the team apparently changed course, After Phillips took an early lead, he chose to save Phillips for a potential ninth chance.
In other words, when Karnle got into trouble in the 7th inning, it was Almonte who came to the mound.
It didn’t work.
Almonte had a strong series, but was ineffective in Game 4. Kim sent Max his ball bouncing past his Muncie in his third to make it 3-2. Soto threw a sinker to the right to make it 3-3.
As Becia started to warm up, Almonte scored several outs before fanning Manny Machado and inducing a pop-up from Brandon Drury on the next pitch.
However, once left-handed hitter Cronenworth came to bat, Roberts said Almonte planned to throw to first base to give it to the left-handed Beshear. before entering.
Instead, a sign was missed, Almonte threw the pitch and suddenly Roberts was faced with a decision without a good answer.
he chose the latter.
“I still love that match,” Roberts said.
It didn’t matter.
After Soto stole second and was in scoring position, Vesia threw a 2-2 slider just off the plate and Cronenworth threw the ropes down the middle to give the Padres a non-negotiable lead.
“I did a proper warm-up and went out,” said Beshear. “He made it a 2-2 count and kept the slider up and he took it well.”
Catcher Will Smith, whose wife Carla gave birth to a daughter on Saturday, admitted he had a “little misunderstanding” during a sequence with Almonte and missed the throwover sign.
“For some reason the sign didn’t get there,” he said. “That’s not why we lost the game.”
But that certainly didn’t help, not after the Dodgers missed a string of other opportunities early in the game.
while they opened the scoring freddie freeman‘s two two-run doubles — snapping the team’s 0-for-20 skid to get the runners back in scoring position to get back into Game 1 — thanks to Tyler Anderson’s scoreless five-inning start, they were completely out. Couldn’t put it on. game away.
They were still 9-2 with runners in scoring position. They still had nine men stranded on the base, and Smith’s sacrifice fly put him up 3–0 in the top of the seventh, but they mustered from a bases-loaded no-out situation. It was the only run.
Overall, they scored just seven runs while dropping the final three games of the series.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve had three games gone wrong halfway through the regular season,” Freeman said. “It’s just a shame that it happened in October.”
After the seventh inning, they were also unable to react, ending the game with six straight outs, ending the game in a sudden, and all too appropriate, downpour of rain.
“I had a chance” right fielder Mookie Betts Said. “There was never that hit.”
“It sucks, it really sucks, you know?” Chris Taylor added during the heartbreaking scene after the game. We’ve been here before and it doesn’t make us feel better. I agree.”
But the way it played out ranks it among the most shocking collapses the Dodgers have ever seen.
From poor pitching to botched pickoffs to a scene of 45,139 fans cheering in unbelievable numbers, the bottom of the 7th is a long sting for Winter.