The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their road trip with a 6-2 win in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Angels in the Freeway Series opener at Angel Stadium, backed by another encouraging start from Walker Buehler.
The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits and collected six strikeouts in five innings of work. Buehler’s only blemishes were solo home runs by Logan O’Hoppe and Taylor Ward.
The 30-year-old’s performance came on the heels of holding the Baltimore Orioles to two earned runs over 4.2 innings in his last outing on Aug. 28.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been encouraged by Buehler’s recent progress, via Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
“From the last start, I thought it was even better in the sense of his composure,” Roberts said. “I think right now, Walker’s in compete mode. I think that it’s important that, when you’re in September, you’ve got a few starts left until we get to the postseason, and him trying to find some traction and get to being the pitcher that he was.”
Buehler also felt that he threw the ball better against the Angels and was happy to get more strikeouts:
“I think these past two starts, obviously the line doesn’t reflect it last time, but starting to get some punchouts and all of that kind of stuff [is good] and I think for me, it’s all these little tiny boxes checked,” Buehler said. “I feel like myself and I feel like I can go and throw the ball well. And tonight wasn’t my best game ever, but for right now, I’m pretty happy about it and confident and in four, five, six days, whatever we end up doing, I feel ready to take the ball and I feel like I can help us win.”
Buehler has struggled with inconsistency for the better part of the season, but seems to be trending up in the wake of several solid outings. He has now allowed three earned runs or fewer in four consecutive starts dating back to Aug. 14.
Buehler’s resurgence has given the Dodgers rotation a much-needed boost with the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the injured list.
In 12 starts this season, Buehler owns a 1-4 record with a 5.67 ERA, 5.98 FIP and 1.61 WHIP over 54 innings pitched.
Dave Roberts ‘very confident Walker Buehler can be impact pitcher in postseason
Earlier this season, Roberts expressed confidence that Buehler could be an impact pitcher for the Dodgers in the postseason if needed.
As it currently stands, Buehler would appear to have a spot in the Dodgers postseason rotation, but that could change based on performance and pitchers returning from injury.
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