If you are a bottom-line type person, the bottom line is that the Dodgers won Wednesday night’s National League Wild Card Series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 4-2 – period.

But if you are of the type who looks beyond the box score, you undoubtedly noticed that the Dodgers – the undisputed best team in all of baseball during the COVID-19-shortened 60-game 2020 regular season, are lucky they beat one of the worst teams of said season; a team that finished with a sub-500 29-31 record (.483), and a team that would not have even made it into the postseason during a normal 162-game regular season.

The box score shows us that the number-one seed Dodgers scored four runs on six hits, while the number-eight seed Brewers scored two runs on seven hits. It also shows that Dodgers pitchers struck out a combined 15 Brewers batters while Brewers pitchers struck out only five. However, and this is – or at least should be – an area of concern for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, the Dodger went 1-for-8 (.125) with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners on base.

Without question, the blackeye for Dave Roberts’ team was sending eight men to the plate in the bottom of the first inning; an inning during which they had exactly one hit (a leadoff double by right fielder Mookie Betts) but received four walks, on which they scored their two first-inning runs. However, and this is the beyond-the-box-score part, they went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position during that first frame, with Dodgers designated hitter Edwin Rios grounding out to Brewers second baseman Keston Hiura for the final out with the bases loaded.

As for that beyond-the-box-score thing, after scoring their third run of the night on back-to-back doubles by Chris Taylor and Betts and receiving an additional walk in the second inning, Brewers pitchers retired the next 10 Dodgers batters in order, with struggling Dodgers centerfielder Cody Bellinger finally breaking the streak with a single to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and the Dodgers clinging to a precarious 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, Bellinger was quickly erased on a routine 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Dodgers left fielder AJ Pollock.

But as he has done all season long, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager came up big with a mammoth 447-foot solo home run to straightaway center in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Dodger a little breathing room in the now 4-2 ballgame.

“Just tried to battle, put a good swing on the ball,” Seager said of his monster home run. “Fortunate enough, you know, you kind of hit it out of the ballpark and give us an extra run going into the later parts of the innings, so that was a big help.”

It would be criminal not to mention the outstanding pitching by Dodgers right-handed starter Walker Buehler and even more so by left-hander Julio Urías. Buehler allowed two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out eight in his 4.0 innings pitched. Unfortunately, one of those hits was a two-run home run by Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia in the top of the fourth inning to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

“I had him 0-2, I can’t miss that much,” Buehler said of his only bad pitch of the night. “It’s supposed to be up above his belt and I threw it about as middle-middle as I could.”

As for Urías, all he did was allow no runs and three hits while walking none and striking out five in his 3.0 innings of relief of Buehler.

“I thought Urías did a great job,” said Brewers manager and one time Dodger Craig Counsell after the game. “He pitched really well. That was kind of the key. We got Buehler out of the game early-ish, you know? But Urías gave them multiple innings and did it really well. I thought he was a big key to the game for them.”

And then there’s Kenley Jansen.

Jansen was brought into the game in the top of the ninth to close it out. But after recording two quick outs on four pitches, he walked Brewers pinch-hitter Jace Peterson on five pitches, bringing ever-dangerous Christian Yelich to the plate representing the tying run. Fortunately, Jansen got the Thousand Oaks California native to strike out swinging.

“It was good to see him get the job done. It just didn’t seem like the stuff had the teeth that I’ve seen in recent outings,” Roberts said, with a glint of frustration in his three-time All-Star closer. “I’m going to go back and look at the video. The cutter didn’t have the life in the zone, and the breaking ball was cast more than I’ve seen it.”

One has to believe that Roberts’ blind faith in Jansen is waning, especially with guys named Jake McGee and Brusdar Graterol lying in wait in the Dodgers extremely effective bullpen.

But alas, a win is a win, and the Dodgers will enter play on Thursday night looking to bring an end to the Brewers sub-500 season.

…box scores notwithstanding.

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