Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will be the first to tell you that his team had “The Miz” – Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski – on the ropes Sunday night at American Family Field. However Los Angeles fell short, 2-1, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers made Misiorowski work, throwing 94 pitches in 4 ⅓ innings, but they only scored that one run. That came in the second inning. With runners on first and second and one out, Andy Pages singled to right field, scoring Shohei Ohtani and giving L.A. a 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers had a chance to add more that frame. They had the bases loaded and one out, but Miz induced Kiké Hernández to hit into a double play to end the threat. After Misiorowski left the game, the Brewers bullpen blanked Los Angeles for 4 ⅔ innings.
“I thought we did a great job vs. Misiorowski to get him out when we did, to get the pitch count up,” Roberts said. “He obviously made a couple pitches to get two double plays to kind of limit the damage, which were huge obviously. I think the approach, how we went about it, was fantastic. We saw their four leverage guys tonight, and we just couldn’t muster anything.
“I guess the only solace is you got them in the game – you got to take a look. We just know that if there’s any chance for them to win the game, we’re going to see those guys. Hopefully in a long series it could prove to be beneficial the more times we see them.”
Roberts is concerned about catcher Will Smith, who hit third in the order on Sunday. It’s not just one game. Smith is 1-for-19 (.063) with seven strikeouts, but don’t look for Roberts to make a change behind the plate or put Smith down in the order.
“He’s not swinging the bat well,” Roberts acknowledged. “Yeah, we’ll see. It’s hard because of the body of work, and he just has that knack to get a hit, to get a big hit. You also have to kind of think about who you want to place and do I want to flip him and Teo (Teoscar Hernandez)? It’s a fair question, but right now I still like him (near) the top of the order.”
The Dodgers still had a chance to make some noise in the ninth. Roberts was impressed with what MLBbro Josue De Paula did in the final frame against Brewers closer Trevor Megill. With the tying run on base and two outs, De Paula entered the game as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk, his second of the postseason, but the Dodgers ended the game scoreless.
“He’s got a good heartbeat, looks over the ball really well,” Roberts said about De Paula. “I’ve got no hesitation running him out there. I just felt with Megill he’s just a really good pitcher, especially tough on right-handers. (It gave) us the best chance to get Mookie up to bat, and that’s the decision I made, and I felt good about it.”
