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LOS ANGELES – Everyone gets it: The guy who's been in this predicament before, the guy in his first big-league season and all the guys in between.
In this World Series, the Dodgers have looked helpless and defeated. But others have appeared also lost and recovered. Just not in a while.
Can the Dodgers buck the recent trend and revive not only themselves, but which one dominates the Red Sox lead by a 2-0 count? The answer, a sizable part of that will be revealed in Friday night's Game 3 Here at Dodger Stadium, will be a part of the world.
"For us, right now, it's a game that we really need to win," Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts said Thursday at his home ballpark, where both clubs opted to get out of the country.
Los Angeles will turn to freshman Walker Buehler, whose last start came on Oct. 20 in Game 7 of the NLCS at Miller Park, where he allowed just one run in 4 $ / ₃ innings to help the Dodgers claim their second NL pennant in two seasons.
"It's probably pretty similar," Buehler said Thursday, in a statement about his last assignment. "I do not think tomorrow is do-or-die quite the way Game 7 is obviously, but being down 2-0 in the series going into it, there's definitely some pressure there.
"But we train for this, this is why we play. I guess [it’s] good pressure. "
A Vanderbilt product like Game 2 winner David Price of the Red Sox, Buehler would help his team by providing more length than did his veteran spinning mates Clayton Kershaw (four-more innings in Game 1) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (4 ² / ₃ ings ings ings Game 2 2 2 2 2) Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan.
Maybe it's not a matter of the way these things are happening in particular situations.
"They got some big hits when they needed them," Roberts said, in a dramatic understatement.
Something must change, though. While it could be the location, this is where it should be pointed out that the Red Sox are 5-0 on the road (2-0 at Yankee Stadium, 3-0 at Minute Maid Park) so far this postseason.
Perhaps the Red Sox starting right-hander Rick Porcello, after going with southpaws, is a dramatically different lineup. Their ultra-deep roster gave the Dodgers an all-righty-hitting lineup versus the lefties, yet that did not lead to victories. This time, lefty swingers such as Cody Bellinger (the MVP NLCS), Max Muncy and Joc Pederson figure to start.
Or maybe these Dodgers, as advanced analytically as any team in the industry, will find a way to tap into Roberts' memories of being a member of the 2004 Red Sox, who wiped out just a 2-0 deficit goal at 3-0 hole – the only baseball team ever to pull that off – to the Yankees in that ALCS. No team has prevailed after falling behind 2-0 in a best-of-seven series since then, and overall, 68 of 81 teams that have won the first two games have proceeded to win the series.
"I think it's something where," said Roberts, who famously pinch-ran for Kevin Millar and stole second base in the ninth inning of ALCS Game 4, coming around to score the tying run and sparking the turnaround. "I think the big takeaway is you can not win four games in one night. Just the focus on one game at a time. That's as simple as you can put it. … I know that's echoed in our clubhouse. "
If that does not stick, then this Series and this season will end with a thud.
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