Bernfield: Dodgers' year continues after Scully
"It's time for Dodger Baseball!"
Vin Scully's season may be over, but the Dodgers' year continues. After beating Max Scherzer and the Nationals Thursday night, Los Angeles advanced to the National League championship series for the first time since 2013.
The Dodgers exhausted their pitching staff to get here. First-year manager Dave Roberts used ace Clayton Kershaw three times in five games. Kershaw started games one and four, and came out of the bullpen to record his first career save in game five.
Rich Hill threw twice in the NLDS, including game five. Closer Kenley Jansen fired 51 pitches in 2.1 innings Thursday to hold the lead for Kershaw's save. Twenty-year-old starter Julio Urias even tossed a pair of innings in relief to get the Dodgers into the NLCS.
Los Angeles' starting pitchers posted a 7.29 ERA in the series, yet still advanced. A franchise historically known for great pitching, the Dodgers surmounted injuries and staff inconsistencies this season in their quest to reach the World Series for the first time since 1988.
The Dodgers overcame a lack of quality starting pitching depth with trial by fire, using 11 different pitchers in at least five starts, and still managed to post the fifth best staff ERA (3.70) in baseball.
L.A. began the season with Kershaw atop its rotation, followed by free agent signings Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda, lefthander Alex Wood and youngster Ross Stripling.
Kazmir suffered a thoracic spine injury, Wood had an arthroscopic debridement of his pitching elbow, and Stripling - who had Tommy John Surgery in 2014 - has been held back by shaky performance.
The Dodgers called up Urias and acquired Hill at the trade deadline from Oakland to plug the holes.
Their biggest setback came when a herniated disk sidelined Kershaw following his start on June 26th for more than two months. The Dodgers were eight games behind the Giants in the National League West. But without their ace, they made up 12 games in the standings and held a four-game lead on the night he returned in early September before winning the division title.
Los Angeles went 38-24 during that stretch, posting winning months of July and August, and finished with a red-hot 17-10 month of September.
Just as the Dodgers pieced together their rotation all season, they'll have to get even more creative heading into the NLCS. Los Angeles starts Maeda in game one. Kershaw could start game two, but given his workload in the prior series, he may be limited against the Cubs.
Hill pitched on three days' rest in Game 5 on Thursday, leaving Roberts with the unenviable task of carefully managing his tired pitchers against a Cubs offense that - when at its best - wears down opponents with a patient approach at the plate.
The Cubs are getting the Dodgers at the right time - when their pitching staff is worn down from a hard-fought series against Washington. If they can take advantage, they'll have a good chance of reaching the Fall Classic for the first time since 1945.
• Jordan Bernfield is an anchor and co-host of "Inside The Clubhouse" on WSCR 670-AM The Score. He also works as a play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN. Follow him on Twitter@JordanBernfield.