September 2nd, 2021 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka The Dodgers did something on Thursday morning they haven’t done since April 25 – they woke up in first place in the National League West Division … but it wasn’t without its moments.
After a stellar pitching performance by recently acquired 37-year-old right-hander Max Scherzer during which he allowed no runs and only three singles while walking none and striking out nine, the future Hall of Famer and St. Louis, MO native was unexpectedly removed from the game after being caught on camera having a brief discussion in the Dodgers dugout with manager Dave Roberts. Amidst a swarm of speculation by every television and radio broadcaster in the booth, the reason for Scherzer’s sudden departure after only 76 pitches (56 strikes) would not be known until after the game.
In the meantime, and in a matter of minutes, Scherzer’s masterpiece went down the drain when his replacement, 23-year-old right-hander Brusdar Graterol, immediately gave up three hits, including a game-tying two-run home run to Braves left fielder Eddie Rosario, in his one inning of work. One inning later, the now tied 2-2 ballgame became a 3-2 deficit when 25-year-old Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia coughed up a solo home run to Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson.
But as we have come to know and love of late, Team Turner – Trea and Justin – and (seemingly) nightly hero AJ Pollock came through with timely – and crucial – base hits in the bottom of the eighth, and just like that, the Dodgers were back on top by a score of 4-3.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
And then the sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd of 47,473 really came to life.
Knowing that Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and backup closer Blake Treinen were both down due to their heavy usage over the past couple of games, Roberts called upon Dodgers folk hero Joe Kelly to close out the game, which he did on 10 pitches, of which nine were strikes, to give the Dodgers the 4-3 win – their third in a row.
All the while, the heretofore NL West-leading San Francisco Giants lost their fourth straight, which every Dodger fan on the planet knew meant that their beloved team was now in sole possession of first place in the NL West; albeit by a mere 0.5 games.
As for Scherzer, the fierce Kershaw-like competitor told reporters after the game that he took himself out of the game due to lingering hamstring tightness:
“I came out because I had a tight hammy. It tightened up the first warmups in the game. Going out there for the first inning, I felt my hammy tighten up a little bit. I didn’t injure it, I just knew it was tight.
“From there, just had to pitch almost throttled down. I couldn’t fully get into my back leg. I’ve had this happen in the past. There’s times when it just happens, and you’ve got to work around it. You might not be able to step on every fastball the same way, but you can still pitch.
“When I’ve been in those situations before, you just stick with your game plan and try to execute around that.”
“This is just something that pops up. It’s something you’ve got to deal with. I’ve had this in the past and you just get treatment on it, listen to trainers, and do what they want you to.
“In the past I’ve always been able to make my next start, and I definitely think I’ll be able to make my next start.”
“He’s a competitor. He felt it in the warmup for the first inning and he just said he was going to go as long as he can without putting himself or the team in jeopardy,” Roberts told reporters. “You can just see he wasn’t leaning on the fastball and really letting it rip, but he was mixing and executing. After that sixth inning, he just gave me a look that that was it. For me, I respect that.
“I love him for being honest. I expect him to make his next start. We had other guys pick us up. That’s what a team does. Obviously, the way Max was throwing, you always feel good,” Roberts added.
The Dodgers couldn’t have picked a better time to be good. After a Thursday off-day, they travel to San Francisco to open a three-game series against ‘The Hated Ones’ at Oracle Park. Needless to say, this will be the single biggest series of the regular season for the Dodgers, as they vie for their second consecutive World Series title.
Play Ball!
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anybody notice that Swanson homer was off a 94.2 MPH four seamer over the meat of the plate? feels redundant.
definition of insanity? dave roberts: i just feel, for me, with that guy, in that situation, i’d, i’d do it again……
Well we’ll either be a game up or tied going into the series with the Giants.
“What goes up, must come down.” – The law of averages.
Enough of the Giants’ return to Earth…
As for all the second-guessing of the moment; it is completely deserved. Scherzer was cruising, so why not allow him another 10 pitches? To speculate; Scherzer and Roberts had to be communicating from the start of the game and Doc appears to have made the “executive decision” to pull Max out of the game when he did. But was that the wise call? Graterol gets out of the seventh unscathed and Roberts is a genius… but, with Doc, these things always seem to come into play when the calendar flips to September.
Regarding the hamstring tightness, Max said, ” … you just stick with your game plan and try to execute around that.”
Well, from my perspective, Scherzer was executing just fine, thank you.
i had no problem pulling max and i have great faith in Graterol BUT he threw three identical pitches in the same spot. Rosario watches the first one, fouls off the second, what would you expect next? yep, he timed it. while i would like to say ‘you tip your hat to guy who takes a 101 sinker deep’, orel often says ‘these guys can time a bullet if they see it enough’. maybe throw that 88 mph slider of his in the same location and watch him swing right through it?
this beautiful old game of strategy has been turned into a UFC fight.