Despite 48-pitches in the first inning and an early exit, Torey Lovullo told Call to the Pen he had no regrets starting Taijuan Walker.
LOS ANGELES – The task before right-hander Taijuan Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks was rather formidable.
Not only did Walker start his first career post-season game, to help the Diamondbacks open the National League Division Series Friday night, but was also out to counter an early, disturbing trend. While this post-season remains in the initial stages, starting pitchers have been battered. Just ask Luis Severino of the New York Yankees, Jon Gray of the Colorado Rockies, Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians, and Zack Greinke, Walker’s teammate.
If the lights of the post-season were not bright enough, Walker took the Dodger Stadium mound with a streak of wildness. In five of his last six starts of the regular season, Walker walked at last three hitters in each game. The one exception was during his finals start Sept. 30 in which he walked one hitter in a game against the Kansas City Royals.
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Given the heightened moment and well-documented emotion experienced by each player, Walker’s task was challenging. Plus, Clayton Kershaw, his mound opponent, was out to exorcised demons of past post-seasons. Coming into his NLDS start against the Diamondbacks Friday night, Kershaw sported a combined 4-7 record, a 4.55 ERA for 13 starts in post-season play.
In the end, Walker suffered the same fate as others before, and lasted only one inning. In throwing an alarming 48 pitches, Walker did not record his first out until he tossed 38 pitches, and eventually absorbed a 9-5 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers before a sell-out crowd of 54,707 in Dodger Stadium.
With the victory, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in this of five National League Division Series.
Despite the way Walker exited, the Diamondbacks were able to touch Dodgers’ starter Kershaw for four home runs, and brought a once 7-1, L A. lead down to a three-run margin. The Dodgers ten iced this one with a two-spot in the eighth inning.
Allowing four in the first, including a three-run homer from Justin Turner, Walker’s departure provided concern, but not regrets from manager Torey Lovullo for starting the right-hander. Behind Walker, Zack Godley allowed two runs in five quality innings, but Lovullo told Call to the Pen that the decision to start Walker was the right one.
"“No regrets whatsoever,” he said. “(Walker) was the choice, a clear-cut choice. We held him back off the Wild Card roster for the potential of this happening. He just never reached a rhythm. We have to give the Dodgers credit. They hit a couple of mistakes and unfortunately, we never got grounded.”"
Walker began the game as the first post-season start of his career. The combination of this initial foray and a strong Dodgers line-up created a near-perfect storm. Overall, the Dodgers were clearly aware of Walker’s post-season debut, and Turner told Call to the Pen the attack was on from the start.
"“We wanted to put the pitcher’s back against the wall,” Turner said, whose five RBIs in this game tied a Brooklyn-Los Angeles franchise mark for most RBIs in one post-season contest. “He made some mistake on me, and luckily, I did not miss.”"
While the Diamondbacks can take a minor consolation in reaching Kershaw for four homers, Lovullo make the point to Call to the Pen that his team is tough and will respond.
"“We have been very resilient all season,” he said. “We’re built for moments like this, and it’s only one game. We feel good about the way we approached Kershaw. We’ll regroup and be ready for (game two on Saturday).”"
The four Arizona homers came from A. J. Pollock in the third, J. D. Martinez in the sixth and back-to-back blasts from Ketel Marte and Jeff Mathis in the seventh.
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In game two, slated for Saturday (9 p.m. Eastern, TBS) in Dodger Stadium, a pair of left-handers are set to duel. The Diamondbacks will go lefty Robbie Ray, who is coming off a 15-5 season, an ERA of 2.89, and fanned 218 hitters in 202 1/3 innings. Lefty Rich Hill, who was 12-8 and a 3.32 ERA for 25 starts, will start for the Dodgers. In four post-season starts to date, Hill was 1-2 and a 4.50 ERA
The series then moves to desert Monday night. Zack Greinke, who was hit around in the Wild Card win over Colroado, will oppose L. A. right-hander Yv Darvish.