new york –
At the start of the bottom of the fifth inning Monday night, the Yankee Stadium scoreboard roused the silent Bronx crowd.
“Everyone shout out,” he instructed.
“Everyone scream,” it begged.
The subdued 49,368 attendees showed little reaction.
Walker Buehler had already drained all the life out of them, as he had done many times before this time of year.
For much of this season, Buehler looked nothing like his old self, returning for the first time from Tommy John surgery in the second year of his career. His once overwhelming fastball was being crushed by opponents. His secondary did not have the same life. His mechanics were so bad that during a month on injured reserve in the summer, he visited a private facility in Florida looking for any semblance of stability.
He endured six frustrating months in his final season before his long-awaited free agency.
However, things are different in October. And on Monday night, it culminated in a storybook finish.
In a game the Dodgers won 4-2 and took a three-game lead in the World Series, Buehler delivered a vintage October gem that brought the Dodgers closer to a championship.
Five times. Zero run. 5 strikeouts.
This may be his last start with the organization.
“He’s as confident as I’ve ever seen him,” manager Dave Roberts said in a midgame interview with Fox. “This is just as great as his work.”
Buehler and the Dodgers certainly hope Monday will be the right-hander’s last start of the season. His only chance to pitch again in this series won’t come until Game 7. Considering how the first three games played out, even Game 5 is starting to seem unnecessary.
On Monday, the Dodgers ejected Buehler’s opponent, Yankees right-hander Clark Schmidt, early in the game. Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first inning, responding to the chants of “Hey, Freddie!” from the right field seats. He hit his third home run of the series. In the third inning, Tommy Edman walked the Dodgers first, took second base on a hit-and-run with Shohei Ohtani (who returned to action despite partially dislocating his left shoulder), and read Mookie Betts perfectly. I scored a point. He blooped a single to right and scored without throwing.
Highlights of Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler’s start in Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees.
But from there on, the Dodgers squandered several chances to extend their lead. It was up to Buehler to keep the 3-0 advantage intact.
This season, that could have been a recipe for disaster. During the regular season, Buehler posted a 5.38 ERA, nearly double his previous career mark of 3.02. He scored at least three points in all but four of his 16 starts.
“I think I always felt like I could be a good player in one or two more innings,” Buehler said earlier this week. “Then we got some good ones, but we felt like we still had two more good ones left. It’s a very long road.”
In Buehler’s first start in the playoffs, the road was even longer. In Game 3 of the National League Division Series, Buehler was the losing pitcher after a two-inning, six-run disaster due to poor defense and several fastball errors. It pushed the Dodgers to the brink of early elimination.
But Buehler bounced back in the next two games.
That status has only just been cemented for the 30-year-old veteran, who says his social media reputation as a #BigGamePitcher is “the only thing I care about.”
After pitching four scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ Game 3 win over the New York Mets two weeks ago, Buehler put together his best game of the year on Monday.
His fastball, which had once deteriorated, looked lively and sharp, and he recorded five whiffs in eight swings. A series of curveballs, cutters, and sinkers complemented it perfectly, holding the Yankees hitless through the first three innings.
Buehler ran into trouble in the fourth run. Giancarlo Stanton hit a double over left field with one out. Betts made a diving catch in his next at-bat, which likely saved him a run. With two outs, Anthony Volpe singled to left. But outfielder Teoscar Hernández released it, quickly slotted it home, and a lightning tag from catcher Will Smith threw away the slow-footed Stanton.
That was the only relief Buehler needed all night.
After a 1-2-3 fifth inning, Roberts headed to the bullpen as the top of the Yankees’ batting lineup prepared for his third pitching.
In the fourth inning of Game 3, Dodgers catcher Will Smith tagged out New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton at home plate.
(Wally Scully/Los Angeles Times)
In three career World Series starts, Buehler has allowed just one run in 18 total innings. He has played in 18 career postseason games and has a 3.07 ERA.
Production like this should help Buehler, who became a free agent this winter after a lackluster regular season. It remains to be seen whether the Dodgers will bring him back with a one-year, $21 million qualifying offer or sign him to a new contract entirely.
Going into this series, Buehler said he wasn’t thinking much about looming free agency, saying it “sucks” to have had such a hard time in a contract year, but simply “the not-so-great stuff is even worse.” Ta.
He claims that the idea that this would be his last game with the Dodgers didn’t really cross his mind, either, and he kept such sentimental subplots out of his mind as he prepared for Game 3.
“If that were to be my last start (as a Dodger),” he said, “it would certainly be me trying to win a ballgame in the World Series, which is kind of sad in that sense.” More than anything else.”
Buehler knows this winter won’t be what he once imagined. The two-time All-Star reportedly turned down a lucrative contract extension offer from the Dodgers before the 2021 season, at a time when it looked like he was poised to command big money on the open market.
“After my second surgery, I had no illusions that I was going to sign a $350 million contract to be a starting pitcher for the next 10 years,” Buehler said last week. “So I’m very happy to be with the Los Angeles Dodgers and I want to be here as long as they accept me. But in the last few months, I’ve realized how many teams want me. I think I’ve gotten more and more confident to the point where I feel like I’m a starting pitcher in the major leagues, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”
Monday night, Buehler only reinforced that belief. He figured he could either give himself a fitting end to his tenure with the Dodgers or give the club another reason to guarantee he wouldn’t leave Los Angeles this offseason.
“If I’m going to play, or if I’m going to come back, there’s no better way to do it than after the World Series if possible,” he said.
