Late Night Loss in LA Brings Back Bad Memories for the Dodgers
After losing to the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 on Monday night, Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernandez called out fans for booing teammate Yasmani Grandal.
About two weeks ago, chants filled Yankee Stadium during the American League Wild Card game. “We Want Boston,” the navy blue and pinstripe clad fans said. Flashforward to Monday night, as a similar chant filled Chavez Ravine, the home of the Dodgers. “We want Austin.” All baseball players dream of having their name shouted and echoed all over the stadium, but probably not like this.
Austin Barnes, the Dodgers’ backup catcher who caught virtually every game in the Dodgers’ NL Pennant winning postseason, sat on the bench as Yasmani Grandal had one of the worst games of his career, at the worst possible time. Then again, how much control did he really have? All players have bad games, you just have to hope that none of them occur in the postseason.
On Monday, Grandal fell victim to one of baseball’s cruelest happenings; a bad night.
Grandal missed a play on a wild pitch, then a passed ball, and allowed a run on the former.
Austin Barnes is one of the best backup catchers out there, but it makes sense as to why Dave Roberts wanted to start Grandal in this game. For one, he’s a switch hitter, making him the only player you don’t have to think about pinch-hitting for when a righty pitcher replaces a lefty on the opposing side. The second reason is that, with a rookie like Walker Buehler on the mound, Grandal’s experience is an advantage.
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The passed balls and .136 average this postseason, however, are not an advantage to the Dodgers. Though Grandal is not at his best now, should he be booed for his efforts? Utility infielder and all-around superstar Kiké Hernandez had some words about it.
“It’s the playoffs, you’ve got to want it. Today just wasn’t our day. We had no energy. The stadium had no energy. The fans had no energy. Overall, it was a pretty bad game for everybody who calls themselves Dodgers,” Hernandez told Andy McCullough of the LA Times.
“It was a playoff game and it didn’t feel like a playoff game,” he continued, “Not just because of the fans, but because of how we were playing the game.”
Low energy baseball games aren’t fun. It’s the energy, and that feeling of impending victory, that brings fans to their feet. It’s what makes them slam their hands on the seats in front of them, and stomp on the ground beneath.
Maybe the fans did have a little energy, but some of that energy seemed to be put towards to wishing another guy was behind the plate. Understandable, unfair, and unignorable all at once.
That’s baseball for you.
The Dodgers are going to win or lose this series by the decisions of Dave Roberts. They are going to hit, or not hit, and the outcome of this series will be based on it.
This loss was the first game to mirror Game 7 of the 2017 World Series since that championship defining evening. In Game 7, the Dodgers had no energy. The fans had as much energy as they could until the end of the second inning when the score was 5-0 Astros. It was one of the worst nights in Dodger history and so, from one fan’s perspective, I don’t think the Dodgers, players and fans alike, are afraid of Grandal’s mistakes.
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I think they’re afraid of Game 7 happening again.