The series moves to San Diego for decisive Game 3 – Dodgers Digest

The Dodgers suffered one of their most embarrassing total defeats on Sunday, as a 10-2 loss was almost overshadowed by idiot fans throwing shit on the field and on the field Jurickson Profar and a ball throwing controversy. As bad as it all felt, it's still just a loss and the best-of-five series now becomes a best-of-three series, with the Padres having home-field advantage in the next two games in San Diego. The Padres won four of the five games against the Dodgers in San Diego, with two of those wins coming via walkoffs. The only Dodger win in San Diego this season came on May 11th, when James Paxton threw six shutouts. Today the Dodgers are trying to take control of the series and actually get a chance to hit without losing in the first inning.

	6:08 p.m		San Diego
DH	Ohtani (L)	1B	Arraez (l.)
RF	Beds	RF	Tatis Jr.
1B	Freeman (L)	LF	Profar (S)
LF	T. Hernandez	3B	Machado
3B	Muncy (L)	CF	Merrill (L)
C	Blacksmith	SS	Bogaerts
2B	Lux (L)	DH	Peralta (L)
CF	Edman (S)	2B	Cronenworth (left)
SS	Rojas	C	Higashioka
P	Bühler (R)	P	King (R)

Walker Buhler gets a chance to further solidify his reputation as a big-game pitcher tonight. Overall, it was a tough year for Buehler, who returned after a nearly two-year absence with a 5.38 ERA and 5.54 FIP in 16 starts. Buehler's final start would definitely qualify as a “big game” as he started the home finale and the Dodgers' game against the Padres with a chance to win the NL West at home. It was a strange start for Buehler, who was effective (five innings, one run, 71 pitches) but only struck out one Padre. They put 18 balls in play for Buehler, eight of which were hit at speeds over 95 MPH. He didn't really fool anyone (only three swinging strikes), but kept the Padres in the park and gave the Dodgers five quality innings. It was much better than his other start against the Padres in May in San Diego, when he allowed three runs and two home runs in 3 1/3 innings. Buehler pitched 79 2/3 innings in the postseason and was mostly excellent with a 2.94 ERA/3.16 FIP and a .623 OPS. He hasn't pitched since 2021 due to an injury in October, but his 2021 postseason was a bit rough. He went five or more innings only once in four starts, allowing 10 runs and three home runs in 18 1/3 innings. He started the final Dodger game of the season and allowed four runs in four innings in Atlanta's 4-2 win that sent the Braves to the World Series.

Michael King starts for the Padres after an excellent start to the Wild Card round against Atlanta. King struck out 12 in seven shutout innings, allowing just five hits. He has yet to allow a run in his postseason career (only two postseason innings were thrown prior to this start last week) and has not allowed an earned run in his last two starts. His final regular season game came in LA, where he allowed an unearned run in the first inning but held the Dodgers off until the fifth inning. The Dodgers forced him to throw 95 pitches to get through five as he struggled through the first two innings, but he did a good job of limiting the damage. King was pretty dominant in the second half of the season and appears to have continued that into the playoffs. He allowed just 18 earned runs (27 total) in his last 14 starts and struck out 92 with 25 walks in 80 innings. He failed to complete five innings only once during that time and allowed just four home runs during that time.

King has been the best thrower at limiting hard contact this season. His 85.7 MPH average exit velocity and 30.3 percent hit rate were both among the lowest of any starter this season (lowest average exit velocity, second lowest hit rate after that). Blake Snell). He hit a sinker at 27.9 percent, a changeup at 24.6 percent, a four-seamer at 24.1 percent, a sweeper at 17.8 percent and a slider at 5.6 percent. He threw his changeup more than ever before this season, posting a 36.2 percent whiff rate while his opponents hit just .207 with a .286 slugging percentage.

Freddie Freeman is in the squad tonight after leaving Game 2 early with an ankle injury. David Peralta gets the start at DH again for the Padres Luis Arraez from the beginning.

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The Dodgers made a bullpen move and activated it Ben Casparius as compensation for injury Michael Grove.

MLB announces that Ben Casparius will replace Michael Grove on the Dodgers' NLDS roster as an injured reserve

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) October 8, 2024

Grove would be ineligible to play in the NLCS if the Dodgers advance. He threw 11 pitches Sunday and allowed one of the Padre's six home runs before recording the final out of the eighth. He reportedly has a shoulder problem and will undergo a scan. Casparius gives the Dodgers another length option should Buehler struggle, as well as a possible starter/piggyback option Landon Knack for tomorrow. Casparius pitched well in three major league games (with some salt, since two of those came against the Rockies). He pitched a total of 8 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs with 12 strikeouts.

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Dustin wrote a few words on BallGate earlier, check these out. They pretty much reflect my feelings. Machado is annoying, it wasn't worth spending time and energy on as they are only two losses away from another NLDS exit.

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First pitch is scheduled for 6:08 p.m. PT and will be shown on FS1.