ANAHEIM – Tuesday was Shohei Ohtani night in the Big A. Still, many nights here over the last six seasons have been Shohei nights, but this was the one-year anniversary of his final game as an Angel, and this time the people chanting “MVP” were wearing Dodger blue.

Still, with baseball’s best active player continuing his quest for a historic 50-home run, 50-steal season and his presence in the Dodgers lineup tending to overshadow whatever else is going on with the team game by game, Shohei’s professional homecoming wasn’t the most important story in their 10-inning, 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Not close.

And maybe it wasn’t even the story of Mookie Betts, whose three-run home run in the 10th inning opened the gap and his laser-like shot from right field at the end of the inning to pin Logan O’Hoppe at third base deserves its own moment in the night’s recaps.

The highlight of the early evening came from Walker Buehler.

With questions lurking around starting pitching as the Dodgers head into October, Buehler’s fourth start since his midseason stint on the injured list was urgent, if not critical. If he’s going to contribute in the playoffs, he needs to show it now. He took steps in that direction Tuesday night.

With so much uncertainty surrounding pitchers Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw currently on the sidelines, they have postseason opportunities that can’t be missed.

But time is running out.

“Performance is going to determine everything,” Dave Roberts said late Tuesday afternoon. “I mean, we’ve got a lot going on in terms of injuries. All we can deal with is: Who’s going to get the baseball? And he’s one of five right now. And he’s got to pitch well.”

He was trending upward Tuesday night. He gave up a solo home run to Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe in the second inning — “a bad throw,” Buehler said, a cutter — and gave up another on a four-seam hit down the right-field line to left fielder Taylor Ward in the fifth. He lasted five innings, allowed five hits — essentially no damage beyond the home runs — and had six strikeouts, and Roberts said his use of the curve made a difference.

Buehler threw 25 of his 87 pitches, had six strikeouts and three whiffs, and had four strikeouts (one called) along with the inning.

“He’s probably using it more than he has in the past, but it’s taking them away from fastballs,” Roberts said. “He’s playing more of a front-to-back game… I think it makes him a better pitcher.”

Buehler called it a “building block.”

“For me, it’s checking all those little little boxes,” he said. “I feel like myself and I feel like I can go and throw the ball well. Tonight wasn’t my best game ever, but I’m pretty happy with it for now and I feel like in the (next) four or five, six days, whatever we do, I feel like I’m ready to get the ball and help us win.”

If this is more than a mirage, it could be a major development for a volatile starting rotation. Right now, Jack Flaherty and Gavin Stone are the only sure things in a postseason starting rotation, and that wasn’t expected to be the case after the club’s winter shopping spree.

While Buehler pitched in Anaheim on Tuesday night, Yamamoto pitched for Oklahoma City against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in his final rehab start. He went two innings, faced 10 batters and threw 53 pitches, allowing two hits, two walks and two earned runs, striking out three.

But Yamamoto will start for the Dodgers next Tuesday night against the Cubs, the think tank has decided they see enough to bring him back. Meanwhile, Bobby Miller’s abysmal start against the Angels on Wednesday night — allowing five runs before getting an out in a 10-1 loss — was another hurdle to his chances of making the postseason roster. His 7.79 ERA won’t be enough.

Glasnow, signed as the rotation’s starter, has been making long throws before games as he works to recover from elbow tendonitis. Kershaw, who sat out his last game at Arizona on Friday when a bone spur in his left big toe flared up and affected his ability to push off, was playing catch at the right-field foul line wearing a walking boot on his left foot three hours before Tuesday night’s game.

So the Dodgers, no matter which series they start with, could have a lot of pitchers or be looking for volunteers in Game 1. And if you’re a fan and you’re torn between the appeal of Ohtani-Betts-Freeman at the top of the lineup and the fear of a repeat of the last two Octobers, that’s not a very soothing thought.

But more than just the numbers, Buehler is starting to feel like his old self again, which was part of the problem early in the season and part of the reason he visited Cressey Sports Performance in Florida after returning to the injured list with a hip injury in mid-June.

“The bottom line is, the pitching coaches here have gotten me on my delivery,” Buehler said. “And now everything feels familiar instead of feeling really foreign like it has for a while.

“I would love to feel like that in April, you know what I mean? But at the end of the day, I have a month to put the finishing touches on how I feel as a starter in the big leagues and hopefully help us win in the playoffs.”

Perhaps Buehler’s composure has also improved, Roberts said.

“Walker is in competition mode right now,” he said. “And I think that’s important when you’re in September. … At some point you have to put the mechanics aside and go out there and compete and make throws. And his last start and (Tuesday) night, I thought he did that.”

The task between now and Sept. 29, the final day of the regular season: Reassemble a starting rotation while trying to win a division. Simple, right?

[email protected]

Original Release Date: September 3, 2024 23:33