Pressure is on Alex Wood to 'go deep' for the Dodgers in Game 4 - Los Angeles Times
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Pressure is on Alex Wood to ‘go deep’ for the Dodgers in Game 4

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When the Dodgers swept the Yankees in the 1963 World Series, manager Walter Alston used four pitchers. Total. In the whole Series.

Don Drysdale pitched a shutout, Sandy Koufax had two complete games and Johnny Podres needed reliever Ron Perranoski to get the final two outs in Game 2.

The Dodgers are just three games into this World Series and manager Dave Roberts has already gone to his bullpen 15 times. The only pitcher on the 12-man staff who hasn’t appeared against Houston is left-hander Alex Wood, who is scheduled to start Game 4 on Saturday.

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Wood will take the mound with two goals in mind: Pitch well enough to even the Series and pitch long enough to give Dodgers relievers a rest.

“Alex is going to have to go deep,” Roberts said. “It’s up to Alex to go out there and set the tone. We’ve just got to go out there and pitch well out of the gate.”

Six Dodgers relievers have pitched at least twice in the Series; Brandon Morrow has appeared in all three games. With Roberts pulling starter Rich Hill after four innings in Game 2 and Yu Darvish after five outs in Game 3, the bullpen has pitched 13 1/3 innings in the back-to-back losses to Houston.

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“When your starter goes five outs, you’ve got to find a way to cover some innings,” Roberts said.

Everyone but Kenta Maeda, who pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Darvish, will be available Saturday, Roberts said. Yet the more he goes to his bullpen, the more the Astros become favorites with a relief corps that hasn’t been seen nearly as much.

Houston manager A.J. Hinch said that gives the Astros an added advantage.

“The quicker you can get into a bullpen, the more looks you get at a guy, the more comfortable guys are,” he said. “That doesn’t guarantee success the next time. Whether it’s fatigue, whether it’s pitch recognition, just being more familiar with their bullpen, that’s helpful now.”

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The Astros have three relievers who haven’t appeared in the Series, and two others who have faced just three batters each.

“It’s about leverage,” Hinch said. “[Roberts] has been trying to match up, but I think our players have responded into the competition and put up some good at-bats at key times. It doesn’t make Game 4 any easier. It’s still an elite bullpen.”

It could also be a tired one. Dodgers relievers hadn’t allowed a run in 28 innings going to the eighth inning of Game 2. Then the bullpen imploded, with four pitchers combining to give up six runs on seven hits in five innings.

The bullpen was much better Friday, yielding an unearned run in 6 1/3 innings. None of the five relievers had a clean inning, but Roberts was pleased nonetheless.

“I think our guys in the pen did a fantastic job,” he said. “It’s just a matter of now getting hits with runners in scoring position.”

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The Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position Friday and are 1 for 14 (.071) in the World Series.

“It’s just guys going out of the strike zone,” Roberts said. “You look at the opportunities that we did have and pitchers seemed to go to their secondary [pitches].

“When we are at our best, or any offense is at their best, they stay disciplined in the strike zone. Right now we’re chasing a little bit more than we usually do.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series

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