Shohei Ohtani was supposed to fix the Dodgers’ postseason woes. So why hasn’t he?
SAN DIEGO — This year would be different.
This year would be about winning a postseason series.
This year would be the year the best player in baseball made sure of it.
Or not.
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are on the verge of elimination from the National League Division Series. The San Diego Padres beat the Dodgers on Tuesday, 6-5, so the Dodgers either win two straight games or lose in their first round for the third straight season.
Freddie Freemain back in the lineup for Game 4, Miguel Rojas out
Freddie Freeman remained in his usual third spot in the batting order and playing first base when the Dodgers released their starting lineup ahead of Game 4.
Miguel Rojas, however, was out of the lineup after a bumpy Game 3 in which he tweaked his injured left leg twice in the second inning while playing shortstop and then was lifted after running the bases in the top of the third.
Much like he did for the bulk of Game 3, Tommy Edman will slide into the shortstop position and bat eighth. Kiké Hernández, who only has two at-bats in the NLDS, will play center field and bat ninth.
Right-hander Ryan Brasier will serve as the opener in what was already scheduled to be a bullpen game for the Dodgers.
Full lineup below:
Bullpen will be tasked with saving battered and bruised Dodgers in Game 4
SAN DIEGO — Their starting shortstop, a defensive whiz who is having one of the best offensive seasons of his 11-year career, left Tuesday night’s game in the third inning after aggravating a left-adductor strain not once, not twice, but three times in the first three innings, and he appears doubtful for Wednesday night.
Their first baseman and No. 3 hitter, an eight-time All-Star and the 2020 National League most valuable player, was pulled for a pinch-runner in the eighth inning, his severely sprained right ankle hurting so much he could barely jog to first base after his two-out single, and he is questionable for Wednesday night.
Their rotation is so thin through just three playoff games that, faced with a win-or-go-home game in the National League Division Series on Wednesday night, they will employ a bullpen game.
Dodgers’ miscalculations with starting pitching have put their season in peril
SAN DIEGO — The point again feels redundant at this stage, but it’s nonetheless worth repeating because it’s the reason why the Dodgers are on the verge of another divisional-round elimination: Their starting pitching is atrocious.
The suspicions of the winter, which became legitimate fears in the regular season, have turned into a full-scale disaster in these playoffs.
Incredibly, the problem everyone saw coming is somehow even worse than imagined. In this National League Division Series, their starters have registered a combined earned-run average of 10.13. The Dodgers are behind in the best-of-five series to the San Diego Padres, two games to one.
The Dodgers’ starter in their elimination game on Wednesday?
TBD.
As in, to be determined.
Game 3 rewind: Dodgers can’t overcome disastrous inning in loss to Padres
SAN DIEGO — In the run-up to this week’s National League Division Series, it was the quietest player on the Dodgers roster who delivered the most profound speech.
This series, soft-spoken veteran Chris Taylor told his teammates in a hitter’s meeting before Game 1 on Saturday, would be all about intensity.
“Every time we play these guys,” Taylor said of the San Diego Padres, “they always have high intensity and a lot of energy.”
So, he implored the club, “We need to match that.”
Three games in, it isn’t happening.
Dodgers vs. Padres: How to watch and betting odds for Game 4
The Dodgers continue the postseason Wednesday when they face the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Petco Park in San Diego. The game is scheduled to start at 6:08 p.m. PDT and will air on FS1 and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts of the game will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español) in the Los Angeles area.
Here are the betting odds for Game 4:
If the Dodgers force a Game 5, it will be played at Dodger Stadium on Friday at 5:08 p.m. PDT (Fox).