The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their 11th National League West division title in the last 12 seasons on Thursday, backed by a tremendous outing from Walker Buehler.
Buehler pitched five innings while giving up just one run against the San Diego Padres. He allowed five hits, struck out one and walked one batter.
While it wasn’t his most dominant outing with just three swings and misses for the night, it was Buehler’s most effective of 2024. That lowered his ERA to 5.38 on the season across 75.1 innings pitched.
Despite his poor season overall, Buehler stepped up when the Dodgers needed him most, and it’s something that’s always been a focus for him, he told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA:
“I’ve had a rough year, there’s one thing I’ve kinda always hung my hat on, it’s pitching in big games.”
In addition, Buehler treated the outing like a playoff start with a chance to clinch the NL West on the line.
Due to the importance of the game and how much of a struggle the season has been, Buehler was glad to have his performance, he told David Vassegh of AM 570 L.A. Sports:
“This is a playoff game for us. Number two team in the division, us, kind of commit our destiny. We win the game, we win the division. That’s kind of what gets me going, and so not much mentally, just go. So I’m excited. Obviously our team has carried me and let me kind of tread water for a long time. It’s a nice feeling to have a good one in a big spot.”
At one point this year, Buehler said he was “just trying to survive” the season as he returned from a second career Tommy John surgery. He was inconsistent and more often than not and struggled to be effective.
The thought of pitching in a big game was far from his mind, but Buehler continued to take steps forward and kept working to make adjustments.
Now, Buehler has put himself in position to be someone the Dodgers will rely on in October, partly due to injuries on the club, and in some part because of his own success as of late.
Dave Roberts ‘very confident’ in Walker Buehler
After Buehler’s outing against the Colorado Rockies, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed his trust in the right-hander to make big starts for the club.
“This is as confident as I think I’ve been, and most importantly, Walker is,” Roberts said. “And the most confident, I think, this year. I believe it was in there, but obviously he needs to have some success to believe in himself.
Confidence was an issue early on for Buehler, but if he needed one more outing to prove to himself that he can compete in October, he got his answer on Thursday.
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