The nobles are a rare beast, but there was a witness in Los Angeles Wednesday night. For those who may be less online than me, it is a man-made but pleasant acronym: Teams without a knockout base can’t end up running easily. In other words, it’s a team that’s full of bases, no one goes to a scoreless inning, and Cincinnati’s feline achievement is like the last moment of being brought to the tide of excellence in Los Angeles.
The Reds started the second game against the Dodgers with bursting energy. A hit percentage of the impact, a field error, the cut ground ball suddenly rose 2-0 on the unsuspecting Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They worked hard to find more appeal in the next three innings, namely nine and nine, but the initial two runs left them against eternal dodge on the other side of the field.
Yamamoto’s fellow Zack Littell wasn’t that sharp, but he grabbed the Dodgers in three innings of smoke and mirror. On the fourth time, the constant pressure became too high. The Dodgers had two runs in the second half, giving them a 3-2 run, while the Reds called Nick Lodolo from the bullpen to escape. After the team swapped scoreless frames in the fifth inning, the stage was determined for our destiny.
Cincinnati’s leading batsman TJ Friedl drove to the right with the impact line. Spencer Steer then pushed his lining to the center. Gavin Lux chopped one from the plate and Max Munchy was in pocket. Suddenly, Yamamoto suddenly fell into a troubled world, and the tied game would almost certainly score and pressure behind that field. For the Reds, even better, their 4-5-6 batsman is about to appear.
Yamamoto pitched with his usual untense precision, but missed the corner below with two courts. Even after falling 2-0, Yamamoto was still working out the edge, putting the cutter high and outside found, Hays opened it. He bumped into a line, but the sinking line. Finally, it was a well-received player for Mookie Betts and didn’t bounce until he was in front of him. This freezes the runners, who are not sure if the ball will be caught. Bates had plenty of time to throw home and record the first one.
Next comes the phenomenon of youth Sal Stewart, who traveled through minors at the age of 21, not only forcing him to make the playoffs but also to clean up. But do you know one thing about 21 years old? impatient. Yamamoto’s plan remains the same. He threw a sinking piece that was too low to get the ball. He threw a cutter again, but Stewart couldn’t fire it. The 1-1 court is a slider that fools Stewart, who is looking forward to a fastball with the highest letter. Instead, he got a broken ball that cuts the bottom of the area off more or less a strike. Now, when Yamamoto took out a nasty curve ball and even stayed away from Stewart, seeing three pitch types on three courts, Stewart was right on his back foot, drawing helpless waves in the strike three games.
The threat is not over yet. Elly de la Cruz, the best batsman in Cincinnati, was sixth (see, don’t ask me why, I disagree), so there was a chance to win from the failed jaw. This time, Yamamoto started the look of the plate with wrinkles. Yamamoto is no longer his habitual area sting, but starts De La Cruz with a curve ball of 101. De La Cruz. De La Cruz must have locked in a relaxed strike after seeing Yamamoto sculpt his teammate’s court all day long.
After the internal jerk fastball counted to 1-1, Yamamoto placed De La Cruz in the spin cycle. Curve ball is low. The curve ball goes to the same position. The fastball is high. De la Cruz is in a swing, constantly smudges the ball and keeps it alive, but he has little precision hanging on Yamamoto. The next pitch is another hook, sharper and faster than the first three hooks he showed, and it causes a desperate, futile swing. The situation, the threat was avoided, and Cincinnati’s chance to win the game swept.
I know that baseball is not usually that way. Failure to score in one inning is not the end of the world; you can always score in the next one or your opponent may be short and give you more opportunities. But this is not a mid-July match against your division rivals injured roster. These are the Los Angeles Dodgers you face. Two of the first three batsmen went into the bottom of the sixth batsman. Worse, these three are the bottom of the order. Two are open, one is Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, etc.? I was hardly surprised when Ohtani hit a RBI single, Betts exploded into doubles, (after intentionally passing to Freeman) teoscarhernández hit the laser beam twice, pushing the lead to 7-2.
To be fair, that’s not The only one The chance of red has to do some damage when loading the base. In the eighth inning, they started hot again, with four consecutive batsmen loading it and reducing the deficit to 8-3. Sacrifice flies brought them back within four, and then Matt McLain’s walk brought the kidnapping run to the plate. Can a miraculous Grand Slam resurrect the seemingly dead red and push the defending champion a little?
impossible. Alex Vesia was the team’s best regular reliefist before the playoffs plan turned to former starters and future Hall of Fame, even as Friedl struggled to play. The two did fight on the outside edge, Vesia drew high and low fastballs, and Friedl was just a foul. Friedl dialed six balls, tilted his defense and leaned outside to counter Vesia’s dial-in position. But Vicia has the perfect counter. After five fastballs in his first six courts, he started his signature slider and then carved onto a plate. Friedel was unable to pull the trigger; his mind saw a fastball that would miss the plate inside, and he could only look at the slider in frustration, but instead hitting a third of the outer corner, ending the final threat of the game.
The Dodgers Glitterati did what they seemed to be doing in their perspective. Yamamoto is excellent and can only play two future games in 6 2/3 innings. He hit nine reds, walked just two, and placed the ball on a string all night long. In fact, both walks were in his last work framework, and he threw 117 careers. Before that, he seemed to be in full command at all points. He looks like one of the best pitchers in the world, and of course he is.
The star hit also makes part of itself. Even without any home runs, the Dodgers are ruthless. Ohtani reached the base twice. Betts three times the night of four blows. Hernández smashed that key. The bottom of the lineup even pulled the weight. 7-9 batsmen made two hits. When they all clicked like this, the LA lineup felt like an unsolvable riddle, and the red wasn’t even close to the speculation in this series. There is no shame. The Dodgers are a serious team. Tonight, they show up and take care of the business, clashing with the Phillies, should be an epic NLD.
