KPSL Young Gun Managers Battle To Split - Dodgers vs Brewers Recap

I will give Josh credit: upon hearing the pitching matchups, and the prospect of facing Chris Sale, he texted me, and I quote, "I feel a split coming, lol". To be fair, looking at both of our teams, not only in how evenly matched we are but also in how hot and cold we've both run with luck, this was a strong possibility from where I was sitting as well. 

And the funny thing is, with all the planning that went into this series on the Brewers' end, the fact that this did end up being a split series is still a wild outcome considering that I lost both the games I was expecting to win. Josh started 2 lefties, and I started my lineup of lefty-killers against them, and combined I scored 4 runs off of them. None came from Heliot Ramos. 

I was still happy to get out of LA with 2 wins, even if they weren't the ones I was expecting. The details of this Brewers-Dodgers series below:

Game 1- Dodgers 9, Brewers 3

W: Tyler Anderson

L: Ben Lively

I'll have you all know this was close for an inning and a half. Andy Pages hit a homer for LA in inning 1, then Travis d'Arnaud hit one for MKE in inning 2. If it kept up at this rate I'd have been fine. Then in the second, Ben Lively, one of my best starters so far, got into some trouble. My killer in this game was the x-rolls. I rolled so many singles off my honestly-decent defenders, and a lot of those brought some runs home, all before Justin Turner would hit a grandy in the third. Wildly, I allowed no errors in this season, but the single chances gave the Dodgers 8 runs between the 2nd and 3rd innings. Sadly, all I could do off of Tyler Anderson was some small ball stuff, which was embarrassing given the lefty-killers in the lineup. Porter Hodge would walk a guy home in the 6th, but aside from that there was no effort to really catch up to the 9 run lead. To be entirely fair, my bullpen did hold it down this game, with Ryan Fernandez, Kyle Finnegan and Pierce Johnson allowing no runs after Lively's departure. But it just wasn't a fun time, despite some improved contact play.

Game 2- Brewers 9, Dodgers 4

W: Bailey Falter

L: Yoshinobu Yamamoto

On paper, you wouldn't have seen this matchup going the way that it did. Falter has struggled as my SP5, while Yamamoto has been pretty nice for Josh. Unfortunately, Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked more like Jordan Yamamoto during this game. I found a lot of the flaws in Yoshi's card, and early: just from my first two batters at the top of the game, there were 2 stolen bases, including Chourio stealing third, 2 hits and a run. Then Jeimer Candelario brought Gavin Lux home. In inning two, Chourio singled Nick Fortes home, a passed ball brought Luis Guillorme in, and an Isaac Paredes RBI gave Chourio the time to make it home himself. 5-0 after 2. Josh took Yamamoto out after that, in favor of Luis Ortiz, who did pretty well afterwards. Falter, meanwhile, pitched beautifully, leaving it mostly to the fielding but occasionally fitting in a K. His day eventually ended with a 3-run homer from Jonathan India. By that point, the Brewers had already gone up in the runs column, after Ortiz gave up 2 homers in the fifth, one a two run blast from the Brewers' hottest power man Jeimer Candelario, the other a solo shot from Travis D'Arnaud, his second bomb of the day. The rest of the game was less eventful but still had its moments, like Blake Perkins stealing 2 bases on 2 walks, extra runs from Jackson Merrill and J.P. Crawford, and the continuation of Michael Kopech's redemption arc. 

Game 3- Brewers 2, Dodgers 4

W: Chris Sale

L: Reynaldo Lopez

SV: A.J. Puk

Regardless of who I had starting for me, I was a bit worried about this one, as Lopez has an excellent card. Josh reassured me, "oh he sucks for me too." He said this referring to Shohei Ohtani, who, despite a pair of hits, a stolen base and a run in Game 2, wasn't getting his full potential so far this year. In Game 3, both Ohtani and Lopez continued their rough seasons in Dodger blue. Lopez went scoreless through 5, then walked home J.P. Crawford [second one of those this series] and Kevin Pillar slapped a sac-fly RBI off the bench- despite some strong work and a lot of runners left in scoring position, he was saddled with the loss. Ohtani was 0-2 with a strikeout and a lineout, then got hurt on the run. Thankfully he's ROG-material, but Josh was forced to start Josh Palacios at DH for the rest of the game, and that didn't go especially well for him either. 

You're all here for Chris Sale's line, and it's a beaut: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 12 K. His 12 strikeouts were his most of the season so far, tied with his shutout against Cincy. I cherish every start this man has for my team, as I fear they are limited. Special shoutout to A.J. Puk for keeping the Dodgers down despite the closeness of the score in the ninth. 

Game 4: Dodgers 4, Brewers 2

W: Sean Manaea

L: Erick Fedde

SV: Jason Adam

This one was pretty disastrous for Milwaukee. Not only were the lefty-killers silenced again, with only solo shots from Isaac Paredes and Travis d'Arnaud [3 for him this series], but Erick Fedde's fairly decent start [barring an Andy Pages RBI double] was ended in the third by a unicorn 6-12 DH roll, meaning he was injured for the rest of the game, and [lightning crackle] I had to give the rest of the game to my 'pen. My long-man, Jordan Montgomery, was in the minors, so this went to a bunch of 1-to-2 inning guys, and they did pretty much what I expected, with Victor Vodnik immediately bringing some guys home on a Jonathan India triple, and Michael Kopech returning to my doghouse with another disastrous, walk-filled inning. Thankfully the bullpen was not fully exhausted, but the moment Fedde went after 2 and I had no long-man, I just figured I needed to get through without completely ripping through the 'pen. The Dodgers' pen stopped any idea of a comeback, more runners were left on base, a Heliot Ramos triple was wasted, and Jason Adam silenced the middle of the lineup with 2 Ks. A frustrating loss, but considering that it was almost entirely left to my bullpen, it could have been far worse.

And so, a split was predicted, and thus, a split occurred. Yet it was the furthest thing from predictable.

Chris Sale strikes out 12 in his Game Three win against the Dodgers.