Tyler Anderson got through five scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of the National League Division Series but manager Dave Roberts turned to the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen with a 2-0 lead.
Chris Martin stranded a pair of baserunners in the sixth inning, and the Dodgers went up 3-0 in the seventh. However, matters came undone in the bottom half of the inning as the Dodgers used three different relief pitchers to no avail. None of whom were Evan Phillips.
Making a back-to-back appearance, Tommy Kahnle issued a leadoff walk and failed to retire any of the three batters faced. Yency Almonte then entered the game, only to give up consecutive hits that allowed the Padres to pull even.
Almonte settled in and appeared primed to face the left-handed hitting Jake Cronenworth despite the Dodgers having Alex Vesia warming up in the bullpen.
Almonte threw a first-pitch ball to Cronenworth and was replaced by Vesia in the middle of the at-bat.
“I think there was just a little miscommunication. We were supposed to pick over. Somehow the sign didn’t get there,” Will Smith explained after the Dodgers’ 5-3 loss.
“I don’t know if I messed it up. I don’t know if the bench messed it up. Who knows? But that’s not why we lost the game.”
Roberts also noted there was a missed sign, but he refuted the notion that Vesia was rushed into the game.
“He was ready. I just wanted to buy a little bit more time. That was the thought,” Roberts said.
“I’m not going to put a pitcher in there who doesn’t say that, ‘I’m ready to go.’ He was ready. I was just hoping it was going to be 0-0 just to make sure we felt good about it. But coming into the game, the stuff was as good as it’s been and Jake made a good swing on a 2-2 slider.”
Vesia also said he had time to warm up like any other appearance.
Why did the Dodgers take Tyler Anderson out?
Although Anderson hadn’t allowed a run to the Padres, there was some concern over facing their lineup for a third time.
“I thought where he was at with his pitch count, who was coming up, I just felt that we had enough arms to get through that,” Roberts said.
“With a 2-0 lead, (Juan) Soto, (Manny) Machado coming up again, I just felt that he’s going to be in the 90s at that point in time, I felt that we had enough coverage.”
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