SAN FRANCISCO — After 19 regular-season meetings and four more in the postseason, there is little the Dodgers or San Francisco Giants can do differently in Game 5 of their National League Division Series on Thursday night.
Surprise.
The Dodgers announced Thursday afternoon that right-handed reliever Corey Knebel would start Game 5 against the Giants, not 20-game winner Julio Urías. The expectation was that Knebel would serve as a one- or two-inning “opener,” with Urias following and pitching the bulk of the game.
Knebel ended up working just the first before giving way to another right-handed reliever, Brusdar Graterol, who followed with a scoreless second inning.
“In a game that is essentially a flip of a coin, if we can get better matchups, on the margins, I think gives us the best chance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Whether we did that or not, we still have to play good baseball.”
The strategy forces the Giants – who aggressively pursue platoon advantages – to make some early decisions about their lineup construction and potentially lose some of those players whenever the left-handed Urías replaces the right-handed Knebel.
“The Giants have been a tremendous ballclub all year and just speaking to the offensive side, they have been the best team in baseball as far as getting matchup advantages, platoon advantages,” Roberts said. “This allows us to, a little bit, get a neutral pitcher who’s done it, who’s had success, who’s all in on doing it and potentially giving us some matchups going forward throughout the game.”
In Game 2, when Urías started for the Dodgers, the Giants’ lineup featured eight right-handed hitters with shortstop Brandon Crawford the lone left-handed hitter. They had three left-handers in the starting lineup Thursday – Tommy La Stella, Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski.
“It doesn’t matter at this point,” Giants third baseman Evan Longoria said. “I mean, we have seen every pitcher that they have.”
Knebel made four starts as an “opener” this season, allowing just one run over 5-2/3 innings total. The Dodgers won three of those four games.
The lone loss came on Sept. 3 at Oracle Park. Knebel pitched the first two innings of a “bullpen game.” The Dodgers lost in 11 innings when Trea Turner made a poor throw to Will Smith, who was playing first base for the first time in his career.
Urías held the Giants to one run and three hits over five innings in the Game 2 victory. Pitching in a variety of roles, he has a 2.13 ERA, holding batters to a .165 average over 17 postseason appearances since 2018.
Roberts said the idea of using an opener in a potential Game 5 was first raised “a couple days ago” in discussions among the Dodgers’ coaching staff and front office.
“We were talking about potential scenarios. In a series, you have to think about that day, the next game and games beyond and crazy scenarios that might happen,” Roberts said. “So I think it was brought up a few days ago. Once the situation kind of came to fruition, we revisited the conversation and felt ultimately it made sense.”
Roberts said the decision was shared “from all the way to the tippy top of the Dodgers’ organization on down – it was a decision that we all made together.” But he emphasized that Knebel and Urias buying in was “most important.”
Roberts texted Giants manager Gabe Kapler at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday night to let him know the Dodgers were changing their starting pitcher – a courtesy that managers (or bench coaches) often extend to the opposing team.
“It’s understandable,” Kapler said of the move. “I don’t think it was unexpected. Certainly changes the way we were thinking about today’s game. But nothing out of the ordinary.”
SCULLY WEIGHS IN
Vin Scully, writing on his official Twitter account before Game 5 on Thursday, did not mince words about the significance of the occasion.
“To my knowledge, tonight’s game between the @Dodgers and @SFGiants is the most important game in the history of their rivalry,” Scully wrote. “With nearly identical records, and so much at stake, I believe this to be the case.
“Many of you might consider the 1951 game for the NL pennant to be bigger. Perhaps, but that was more about the greatest moment with Bobby Thomson’s game-winning home run.”
If there is a singular authority on the matter, it’s Scully. He grew up a Giants fan in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, but he is forever linked to the Dodgers. His 67-year career in the Dodgers’ booth is a record for one broadcaster with one team.
Scully, 93, broadcast his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 18, 1950. He followed the team to Los Angeles and did not retire until the final game of the 2016 season – between the Giants and Dodgers at Oracle Park, site of Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
“I have one prayer for tonight’s game,” Scully wrote on Twitter. “However it’s decided, I hope there’s no goat, no single player to shoulder the blame for a loss like Bill Buckner in the 1986 series between the @RedSox and @Mets.”
