Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers took another rough loss in the NLCS on Monday, dropping the second game in Milwaukee 7-4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the start which is generally a great thing in October, but failed to get out of the third inning and gave up four hits and three runs with more walks (two) than strikeouts (one). It was a shockingly poor performance out of arguably the best postseason pitcher in baseball right now, but the Dodger offense battled back a bit and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth. The game came down to the bullpens, and Kris Bubic, Brock Stewart and Edgardo Henriquez allowed four runs in 2 1/3 combined innings while four Milwaukee relievers combined for five perfect innings with seven strikeouts to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the series. The four Dodger runs seems promising on the surface (they’ve only score more than four runs once in their six playoff games), but two of the runs came on throwing errors by Logan Henderson and the Dodgers only managed three hits and two walks in the game. Milwaukee defended their home field, and now the Dodgers look to do the same to prevent tomorrow’s game being a potential elimination game.
 |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:00 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Chourio | SS | Betts |
| 2B | Turang (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| C | Contreras | LF | T. Hernández |
| DH | Vaughn | RF | Tucker (L) |
| 1B | Bauers (L) | CF | Pages |
| CF | Mitchell (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| SS | Pratt | C | Smith |
| RF | Lara (S) | 3B | Rojas |
| 3B | Ortiz | 2B | Edman (S) |
| P | Gasser (L) | P | Snell (L) |
Blake Snell gets the ball for the Dodgers looking to rebound from a rough NLDS start. Snell got the start in Game 2 and had a very Snelly start (derogatory), going 3 2/3 innings with three hits and a run allowed. He struck out five and got 12 swings and misses, but also walked five batters and needed 90 pitched to record 11 outs. He did that against an offense with the third-lowest walk rate in baseball (though Atlanta was very patient throughout the series), and now faces a Brewer lineup that tied the Cubs for the best walk rate in baseball at 10.6 percent. A couple things could work in Snell’s favor today. The Brewers were below league average against left handed pitchers with a 97 wRC+ and a .706 OPS, good for 14th in baseball. They were also below league average away from Milwaukee, with a 97 wRC+ and the 18th-best OPS at .707 on the road. Snell has yet to face Milwaukee as a Dodger but did so three times with the Padres and Giants. He’s given up nine runs in 14 innings over those three starts, though his most recent start came in 2024 and he gave up a run on four hits in five innings with eight strikeouts. Snell’s only faced one current Brewer more than 10 times in his career. He faced Gary Sanchez a bunch when they were both in the AL East, and Sanchez has a career .304/.484/1.000 slash line with five homers in 31 plate appearances against him.
Lefty Robert Gasser gets his second start for Milwaukee this postseason. His first came in the closeout game in San Diego where he faced the team that drafted him. He allowed a run on three hits in four solid innings in that game and got pulled after only 56 pitches as Milwaukee’s bullpen shut the door to finish off the Padres. Despite still having rookie eligibility, Gasser also pitched in the playoffs twice last season including a relief outing against the Dodgers. The Dodgers were up 5-1 in the eighth inning of that game and Milwaukee brought Gasser in with two outs and the bases loaded, and he struck out Shohei Ohtani to end the threat. He came back in for the ninth and immediately loaded the bases with a HBP, double and intentional walk. He got a strikeout to end his outing and Grant Anderson got Teoscar Hernandez to ground out to keep the score 5-1.
Gasser was solid overall this season, posting a 3.87 ERA in 109 1/3 innings over 20 starts and one relief outing. He started the season in the Minors and came up for a couple starts in May, including one against the Dodgers. The Dodgers handed him his first loss of the season with a lot of 4’s involved, as Gasser went 4 1/3 innings and gave up four hits, four runs and four walks with four strikeouts. Pretty much all the damage came in the fourth inning, which started with back-to-back doubles and a walk. He got a lineout before Teo hit a three-run homer for a four-run inning. He got out of the inning and got an out in the fourth before getting pulled, and the Dodgers lit up the Milwaukee pen for an 11-3 win. Gasser got sent down after that and came back up to stay a few weeks later. He struggled initially, posting a 4.59 ERA in 13 starts (including one in LA). The Dodgers beat Gasser again, scoring three runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings off Gasser with both Andy Pages and Tommy Edman homering. Gasser flipped a switch and absolutely dominated in his final six starts, posting a 1.67 ERA in 32 1/3 innings to finish off his season.
Gasser was elite at limiting hard contact this season. His 22.3 percent strikeout rate and 7.4 percent walk rate were both fine, but his 86.5 MPH average exit velocity was the fourth-lowest among pitchers with 300+ batted balls against. His most-used pitch is a sweeper, with a 25.3 percent usage rate. He throws three different types of fastballs; a four-seamer (23.2 percent usage) that averages only 92.9 MPH, a sinker (22.6 percent usage) and a cutter (18.1 percent). He throws a changeup primarily against righties (10.3 percent overall). Gasser’s been much better against lefties this season, with a .552 OPS and only two homers allowed in 139 plate appearances against lefties and a .765 OPS and 13 homers in 324 plate appearances off righties.
Despite reportedly considering benching Ohtani, he does get the start at DH and hits sixth. They made the decision to keep him in the lineup last night, despite Dustin writing this earlier in the day. Blame Chad for all the things Dustin writes, IMO.
They are blaming me for what you wrote even though we got the author in the auto-tweets again. #SMH
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 14, 2026
I never really thought they’d actually sit him, but it would have made sense today. Ohtani’s looked considerably worse against lefties, and even though Josue De Paula is also left-handed I figured that would have been the time to sit Ohtani. He does drop down to sixth in the order, the first time he’s started a game hitting sixth since 2020 .
Kyle Tucker has been arguably the best bat in these playoffs for the Dodgers, and he hits cleanup tonight. Will Smith drops down in the lineup even lower, hitting seventh behind Ohtani. Miguel Rojas gets the start against a lefty with Max Muncy sitting. He hits eighth and starts at third.
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Some mid-series news as some award finalists were announced today. Pages and Muncy are both Gold Glove finalists, and Ohtani is a finalist for MLBPA Player of the year.
Congratulations to the 2026 Players Choice Awards Player of the Year Finalists!? Yordan Álvarez ? Pete Crow-Armstrong ? Shohei OhtaniSince 1992, the Players Choice Awards have celebrated excellence across Major League Baseball, recognizing performance, leadership, perseverance, and impact on and off the field. The awards are especially meaningful to players, because they’re determined through a vote of their peers. The winners will be revealed the week of October 26.
— MLBPA (@MLBPA) October 14, 2026
Your 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists!Winners will be announced on 11/1!#RawlingsGoldGloveAwards https://t.co/vwQ97Ru3iv
— Rawlings Baseball (@RawlingsSports) October 14, 2026
It would be a bit of a surprise if any of the Dodgers won these awards. PCA is almost certainly a lock for a Gold Glove and the player of the year (although does telling a fan to suck your dick matter in terms of impact off the field) and while Muncy showed incredible progress defensively at third, probably wasn’t Gold Glove caliber.
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An update regarding Game 4.
MLB scheduling announcement: Game 4 on Thursday between the Dodgers and Brewers has been moved up to 5 p.m. PT.
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) October 14, 2026
Game 4 was originally scheduled for a 6:00 PM start time, but they moved it up an hour and now will start at 5. If a Game 5 happens, it’s still slated for 6:00 PM on Friday.
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First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 PM PT and will be on FS1.
