He has, however, been a decent tick worse in his career in the playoffs and it's not a bunch of small-sample flukiness.
It just isn't accurate to suggest he somehow shrinks from every big moment. He's absolutely not a choke artist or anything that extreme, because he's had a litany of great outings under immense pressure. Playoff Kershaw?įair or not, the subject of Clayton Kershaw "choking" in the playoffs is a favorite for many. It's something to keep in mind moving forward in this series. It wasn't clean, but Hader slowed flashes, particularly in striking out Trea Turner for the second out of the ninth, where he looked like vintage Hader. Will Smith came to the plate as the tying run and flew out to deep right on a hard liner. In the ninth, he got two outs before Freddie Freeman crushed a ball off the right-center wall that looked like it might be a home run off the bat but fell for a double. Hader walked Trayce Thompson but then got Austin Barnes to fly out to deep center to end the eighth. He didn't allow an earned run in his last 10 outings, so it's possible he's fixed, but there's always that worry that his struggles come back. 28, Hader appeared in 17 games and allowed runs in nine of them, adding up to a miserable 17.31 ERA in that stretch. Hader also famously had an atrocious stretch of pitching this year.
14, 2020, the date of his last four-out save. Only four outs remained, but Hader hadn't gone longer than an inning since Aug. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Gavin Lux singled and Padres manager Bob Melvin decided to go to closer Josh Hader. The insurance run gave the Padres a 5-3 lead. RAKE CRONENWORTH 💣 #CaptureTheMoment /Tykb1u3eIC- San Diego Padres October 13, 2022 Perhaps he felt like his teammates on the mound were having to sweat it out too much with that one-run lead, because Jake Cronenworth crushed a prodigious home run with one out in the eighth. On April 7, he made his MLB debut with the Padres and launched a very good rookie year.Īnd it's possible he just recorded the six biggest outs of the Padres' season. The 31-year-old reliever, who spent his career playing in Mexico and Japan, had never even been in Minor League Baseball until 2022. Still, let's tip our caps to Robert Suarez. The Padres still had six outs to go while clinging to this one-run lead. With the infield drawn in, Trea Turner hit a hard grounder right at Manny Machado, who looked Bellinger back before getting the runner at first (the throw drew first baseman Wil Myers off the bag and he did well to adjust and then avoid falling into the trap set by Turner, who went down to the ground in hopes of luring Myers into a rundown).Īfter intentionally walking Freddie Freeman, Suarez gave up a hard line drive to Will Smith, but Grisham was positioned perfectly and the threat was over.
Bellinger ended up on third, as he had to hang around first in case Grisham caught it, so the Betts double gave the Dodgers runners on second and third with one out. Padres center fielder Trent Grisham made a great effort and one could argue he should have caught it - though it would have been a spectacular catch - but instead missed it. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Cody Bellinger singled and Mookie Betts sent a liner to the left-center gap. Of course, they had to deal with another major threat. He struck Justin Turner out and then induced an inning-ending twin killing off the bat of Gavin Lux.Īt the time, it felt like the moment the Padres seized total control of the game. Just about the only way to realistically not allow a run would be to get strikeouts or a strikeout and a double play. In situations like these, giving up just one run isn't all that horrible. The Padres removed starter Yu Darvish and swapped in Robert Suarez in relief. A Will Smith infield single was followed by a line shot Max Muncy single, putting runners on first and third with no outs in the sixth for the Dodgers. 😳 /0TWbsHBOvH- Los Angeles Dodgers OctoSuarez's magic in the bottom half
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