Los Angeles posted its NLCS Game 2 lineup on Monday with exactly one change from the game it just lost. Tommy Edman is in at second base. Kiké Hernandez is out.
Hernandez went 0-for-3 in Game 1, his second straight hitless postseason game, and grounded into the double play that got Milwaukee’s starter out of a bases-loaded jam. So the move makes sense on its own terms.
It also leaves the actual problem untouched.
1-for-19
Will Smith is 1-for-19 this postseason. He is batting third on Monday, between Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani, which is the most protected and most important spot in the order.
Nineteen at-bats is a small sample, and catchers who can hit have earned that benefit of the doubt. But the Dodgers went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position in Game 1 and lost 2-1, and the hitter occupying the slot where most of those runners come home has one hit in the entire tournament.
Freeman is 0-for-4 since the series started and is playing through a right knee issue. Ohtani is managing a right biceps problem and a left knee problem of his own. Los Angeles is not short on reasons for why the middle of its order has gone quiet. It is short on answers.
The Lineup in Full
Mookie Betts at shortstop, Freeman at first, Smith catching, Ohtani at designated hitter, Teoscar Hernandez in left, Max Muncy at third, Andy Pages in center, Kyle Tucker in right, Edman at second.
That is a very good lineup on paper and it has scored one run in this series.
Yamamoto Is the Right Man for a Must-Win Feel
Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts Game 2 against Brewers rookie Logan Henderson at 5 p.m. ET in Milwaukee. Yamamoto carries a 2.14 postseason ERA over 11 appearances and threw seven innings of one-run ball against Atlanta in the division series.
Henderson has made 24 career starts between the regular season and the playoffs and has never allowed more than three runs in any of them. He gave up one earned run over five innings in NLDS Game 2 against San Diego.
Teams that fall behind 0-2 in a best-of-seven have won 16 of 95 such series, roughly 17 percent. That is the stake on Monday.
The Bullpen Note Nobody Is Talking About
Will Klein has not pitched since July 31 with right elbow discomfort. Blake Treinen, dealing with right shoulder inflammation, is unlikely to pitch at all this postseason.
Milwaukee threw 4 2/3 shutout innings out of its bullpen in Game 1. Los Angeles is working with a thinner version of its own, which is why Yamamoto going deep matters beyond just Monday.
One lineup change is a tweak. The Dodgers need the bats in the middle to wake up, and no amount of shuffling the ninth spot does that for them.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.