When Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler took the mound for Game-1 of the 2020 National League Division Series at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX on Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres, no one knew what to expect due to his recurring blister issue on his right index finger. All the 26-year-old Lexington, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2016 out of Vanderbilt University did was pitch one of the gutsiest performances of his brief four-year career.

Oh, sure, you can argue that Buehler lasted only four innings, allowed one run on two hits, and left the game with his team trailing 1-0, but it is impossible to ignore what he did during those four inning.

After walking Padres designated hitter Tommy Pham to lead off the top of the second inning and then striking out right fielder Wil Myers, Buehler walked the bases loaded and was clearly struggling – and it had absolutely nothing to do with his blister.

“It felt like Atlanta to me,” Buehler would say after the game, referring to his struggles in Game-3 of the 2018 NLDS against the Atlanta Braves when he gave up five runs on two hits while walking three.

But this wasn’t Atlanta. Buehler proceeded to strike out Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar and center fielder Trent Grisham to end the threat, leaving the bases loaded.

“Moments will speed up, and luckily I feel like I had been there and failed before and kind of learned from that and got lucky and made some pitches and got out of it,” Buehler said of his high-wire act.

The problem is, when you issue a lot of walks, and Buehler walked four, you use up a lot of bullets; hence that ‘only four innings’ thing. He ended his night having made a season-high 95 pitches, of which 52 were strikes, and left the game with his team trailing 1-0.

Enter 23-year-old Dodgers right-hander Dustin May.

As he had done several times during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 regular season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called upon May to spell his starter and (hopefully) give the Dodgers some length out of the bullpen.

Although some (many) will argue that two innings isn’t really much length, it’s what the young Justin, TX native and Dodgers third-round draft pick in 2016 out of Northwest High School in Justin did in those two innings that proved to be the game-changer, leading to his – and the Dodgers – eventual 5-1 win.

May would face only six batters over his two innings of work. He struck out three of them, including Padres ever-dangerous superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. on a filthy 99.6-mph slider for the second out of the fifth inning.

May would be relieved by yet another youngster – 24-year-old right-hander Víctor González – in the top of the seventh inning and the Dodgers up 5-1.

The obvious question is, why only two innings for May? The even more obvious answer is, it’s a best-of-five series and the Dodgers have only two full-fledged starters – Buehler and Wednesday’s scheduled starter (and future Hall of Famer) Clayton Kershaw.

“To have Walker going, not knowing how long he’s going to go, but then with Clayton going tomorrow, I think the idea was for Dustin to take on a run tonight to have him available for [Game] three and we’ll figure out in what capacity – if it’s to start or come out of the pen, or whatever – but I think that’s kind of the idea behind it,” Roberts explained postgame.

As for those five Dodgers runs (four earned), just as they had done throughout the short 60-game regular season, the Dodgers’ bats finally showed up in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Dodgers having been no-hit through the first five.

“We didn’t get a lot of hits early, but we took great at-bats and made those guys work with a lot of walks tonight,” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who scored the Dodgers first game-tying/unearned run in the bottom of the fifth, said after the game. “When our offense is at its best, we’re walking as many times as we’re getting hits. We did a great job of staying in the zone for the most part and getting on base.

“It’s not about hitting home runs, it’s about hitting balls hard and taking good at-bats,” Turner added. “We found some holes, and it happened to be the not-so-hard-hit balls that resulted in runs for us.”

…that, and a brief – but lights-out – pitching performance by Dustin May and the rest of the Dodgers MLB-best bullpen.

May the Force be with you … always.

Play Ball!

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