Trusted curveball vindicates Dodgers' Rich Hill in Game 3 vs. Cubs
LOS ANGELES – When the Chicago Cubs put runners on second and third with one out in the second inning Tuesday, Dave Roberts’ hyperactive mind began to churn. The Los Angeles Dodgers had yet to get a win from a starting pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw in this postseason, and some of that had to do with their manager’s proclivity for going to his bullpen early.
Rich Hill had experienced that first-hand when he was yanked from the National League Division Series clincher despite striking out six and giving up one run in 2 2/3 innings, and he badly wanted that leash extended.
So Hill went to his trusted curveball for two key outs, fanning Addison Russell and getting a grounder from Miguel Montero to escape unharmed, then completed six innings of two-hit ball as the Dodgers again shut out Chicago, this time 6-0, to go up 2-1 in the National League Championship Series.
The stellar outing served as vindication of sorts for Hill’s previous two playoff starts, in which he had allowed five runs in seven innings, and dispelled any notion that L.A. has just a one-starter rotation. Two nights after Kershaw tossed seven scoreless innings, Hill and the bullpen combined to hand the Cubs consecutive postseason blankings for the first time ever.
“We watch Clayton go out there and put everything out there on the line and everybody feeds off that,’’ Hill said. “The hitters, the pitchers, the guys in the field, everybody goes for – you know the cliché term, leave everything out on the field. Really, that’s what we saw Clayton do.’’
And Hill followed suit. The veteran left-hander believed he had pitched better than the 6.43 playoff ERA he brought in, and he backed up that argument by befuddling the Cubs with his curveball and by zipping fastballs past them when they were looking for off-speed stuff.
Facing the middle of the order in the sixth, with the Cubs trying to cut into a 3-0 deficit, Hill got Ben Zobrist to pop up to the catcher with a runner on base and dropped down to sneak an 87 mph fastball by Anthony Rizzo for strike three to close out the inning.
But it was getting out of the second unscathed that allowed Hill to get that far. Roberts, who had not let a single starter other than Kershaw go a full five innings this October, acknowledged he considered getting some action going in the bullpen in the second but refrained.
“I was thinking about it a little bit, but he’s had some abbreviated starts lately, so I really wanted to have him get an opportunity to work through it,’’ Roberts said. “And I really didn’t feel comfortable about pulling the plug on him tonight.’’
Hill benefited from the work of catcher Yasmani Grandal both behind the plate – he kept calling for Hill’s sensational curveball – and at the dish.
Grandal was 2-for-20 in the playoffs when, with a runner on base, he worked his way back from an 0-2 count against Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, then capped an eight-pitch at-bat with a homer to right-center that expanded L.A.’s lead to 3-0.
It was the first extra-base hit of the playoffs for Grandal, who tied for the team lead with 27 homers during the season but batted just .228.
“Taking that one swing got me back into what I’ve been trying to do for a while now. It definitely is a confidence boost,’’ Grandal said. “But defense comes over offense. For me, defense wins the game. So if I stay back there and I call a good game, I did a good job with my pitchers, I’m still happy.’’
A subdued happiness permeated the Dodgers clubhouse after their top two left-handers shackled a Chicago offense that posted the league’s second-best OPS against lefties (.807) during the season.
It just so happens L.A. is sending out a third consecutive left-hander in Wednesday’s Game 4, and even though 20-year-old rookie Julio Urias will be the youngest pitcher ever to start a postseason game, he did hold the Cubs to one run over six innings the last time he faced them on Aug. 27.
And not to say the pressure may be mounting on the Cubs, but in the relatively few times they’ve made it to the postseason, they’re 0-5 when trailing a best-of-seven series 2-1.
“They’ve been waiting more than 100 years (for a championship). For us it’s been 28 years,’’ said Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who came in as a pinch-hitter in the sixth and went 2-for-2. “We need to work every day to keep them from beating us and breaking their hex. We’re preparing and praying that we can break our own hex.’’