The Los Angeles Dodgers took pivotal Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, buoyed by another shutout performance from their pitching staff.
Leading the charge was Walker Buehler, who pitched four innings while allowing three hits, striking out six and walking two. Buehler’s 18 swings and misses were his most in a start since October 2021.
Although the outing was dominant in some regard, Buehler saw his pitch count climb quickly due to some high stress innings and just shy of 40 balls thrown. Buehler ended his night with 90 pitches thrown, of which 51 were strikes.
Buehler became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw 90 or more pitches in a postseason start of four innings or less while not giving up a run, according to OPTAStats.
Getting Buehler back to form has been a long process after he underwent a second Tommy John surgery. The regular season had more negative than positive moments, and his first playoff start back was a mixed performance.
While it may have provided Buehler some more confidence to turn in a strong start when his team needed him, the right-hander is focused on helping the Dodgers win.
“It doesn’t mean a whole lot much more to me than winning Game 3 of the NLCS,” Buehler said. “I think later down the road it may mean a lot to me. But right now, I’m going to enjoy tonight and then get ready if we have to play a Game 7. I think when you’re in these playoff things, everything gets really blurry and really fast.
“Today was a good day for me and for our team. And sometimes I think they feel bigger than they are. Like, if we come out and play like [expletive] tomorrow, we won’t care about how we played today. So I think we kind of saw that in L.A. We get the big Game 1 win and the second game doesn’t go our way. Now it’s 1-1.
“To have the advantage in the playoff series is huge. I always talk about momentum in the playoffs, whether it’s an inning or a game or a series. And this is definitely a big momentum win for us. But if we don’t do something with it, then it doesn’t really matter a whole lot.”
Walker Buehler adapting as pitcher
Without the overpowering stuff he once had, Buehler has needed to reinvent himself as a pitcher to find success. That was evident in the biggest moment of the game when the Mets had the bases loaded in the second inning with Francisco Lindor batting.
On a 3-2 count, Buehler went to a curveball and struck out Lindor. He noted how that was a prime example of what he’s needed to change about himself to become effective.
“Oh, in 2018, 2019, 2020, I would have thrown a fastball. Yeah,” Buehler admitted.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added: “I think it’s been a lot of lessons that he’s had to learn, and appreciating, understanding the pitcher he is today. And also appreciating the fact that you just can’t give in to Lindor in that moment.”
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