World Series 2024: Dodgers' latest bullpen game backfires, but team's best relievers are ready for Game 5

NEW YORK – The Dodgers have walked a tightrope with their bullpen this postseason, and while that strategy put them just one game away from winning the World Series, it didn't work out in their final postseason bullpen game in Game 4 so good.

“It's a challenge,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team's 11-4 loss to the Yankees.

Rookie Ben Casparius was the man selected for the team's opener against the Yankees on Tuesday, and although he allowed just one run in his two innings, his three walks created numerous high-stress pitches, which proved to be the theme of the Game turned out early innings for the Dodgers.

Roberts then turned to veteran right-hander Daniel Hudson to serve as a bridge between Casparius and masseur Landon Knack. The hope was that Hudson would get through the heart of the Yankees lineup without major damage. However, Hudson was not at his best and the even bigger problem was that his lack of control quickly put the batsmen in favorable positions and got him into trouble.

Hudson began the third inning by falling behind in the count against Juan Soto, and things began to turn around after a strikeout by Soto in the first out of the inning. The Dodgers right-hander allowed the next three batters to reach base by drilling Aaron Judge, giving up a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and walking Giancarlo Stanton.

“Obviously it was a little bit of a self-made mess for me in the third period,” Hudson said afterwards. “Threw a few good pitches to Juan to start the inning and then it just got away from me.”

Hudson almost found his way out of trouble. He triggered a popout by Anthony Rizzo for a critical second out and brought shortstop Anthony Volpe to the plate.

On the first pitch he saw, the 23-year-old Volpe electrified the Yankee Stadium crowd, which was looking for something to cheer about, by hitting a slider into the left field seats for a grand slam, giving the Bronx Bombers a 5-2 A lead would be enough to force Game 5 on Wednesday.

“I just threw a really bad slider,” Hudson said after the game. “Just one of those things that just jumps out of your hand and you immediately have an 'Oh, no' feeling in your stomach.”

Roberts said: “He had Stanton 1-2 and just couldn’t put him away. Then he gets a pop-up and he's one away from getting out of there, leaving Volpe with an arm-side slider. That was the difference in that inning.”

The LA offense took an early lead on another home run by Freddie Freeman and had chances to recover after the grand slam, starting with a solo home run by Will Smith in the fifth to make it 5-3 led. But the Dodgers were unable to put up a big inning against the Yankees' bullpen, which didn't give up one run over five innings. Aside from the two big flies, the Dodgers offense only managed four more hits on the night.

Shohei Ohtani, who took the lead with his injured shoulder, appeared somewhat hampered in his at-bats but still managed a 102 mph flyout and a 103.8 mph single in two of his four at-bats.

“We've asked him many times and it doesn't hinder us,” Roberts said over Ohtani's shoulder. “He doesn’t feel it.”

The Yankees rallied late in the game, scoring a run against Knack in the sixth inning and five more against reliever Brent Honeywell in the eighth. With that, the Yankees opened Game 4 with by far New York's biggest offensive outburst of the series.

“I don’t think anyone expected these guys to back down,” Roberts said afterward. “…These guys unfortunately answered back. It was a good ballgame until it wasn’t.”

Casparius added: “Of course we want to take care of every single day. A win today would have been great. But that’s baseball.”

The only bright spot from the Dodgers' loss in Game 4 was Knack's work to eat up some of the innings and keep the Dodgers in the game before it got too late. The right-hander recorded 12 outs with one run allowed in his best game of the postseason. As a result, Roberts was able to stay away from all of his highly effective substitutes, particularly Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen, all of whom will be rested and available on Wednesday.

“I was really just trying to progress as much as I could,” Knack said. “I really just try to mix well. Last time (against the Mets) I got in trouble trying to get through with two pitches. Today I really tried to get everything going. The attitude after that was really just to keep us in the game.”

The Dodgers now send Jack Flaherty to the mound for Game 5, where he faces Gerrit Cole in a rematch of Game 1. Flaherty, backed by LA's best relief corps, will look to close the series for the Dodgers and keep this Fall Classic from returning to Los Angeles.

“At the end of the day, we’re still in a pretty good spot,” Roberts said. “And we feel good. We’re ready to go (Wednesday).”