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Busy bullpens likely in Dodgers-Nats NLDS
- Updated: October 5, 2016
WASHINGTON — Marc Rzepczynski knows how important a bullpen can be in October. The Nationals lefty was a member of the 2011 Cardinals, who overcame a lackluster starting rotation to win the World Series, largely thanks to a deep and versatile crew of relievers.
“We had Chris Carpenter leading the way for starting, but after that it was kind of, if Tony [La Russa] wanted to use the ‘pen in the third inning, he would,” Rzepczynski recalled Tuesday. “He pulled all the right calls that year, and we were in there from the minute trouble started happening until the end of the game.”
That Cardinals team and the Kansas City Royals of the past two seasons have reinvented the popular image of what a championship-caliber pitching staff looks like. Flamethrowing aces still help, but these days, some teams can also excel by asking more of their relievers.
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Bullpens could play a major role when the Nationals take on the Dodgers beginning Friday at Nationals Park (5:30 p.m. ET on FS1) in a battle of the two teams with the best relief-pitcher ERAs this season.
The Los Angeles and Washington bullpens could have a busy series. Both teams will begin the series with reliable workhorses on the mound, but Game 3 will likely feature two pitchers (Kenta Maeda and Gio Gonzalez) who struggled at the end of the regular season, and Game 4 will see either aces on short rest or young starters (Julio Urias, Joe Ross) with issues pitching deep into games. Relievers will likely get plenty of mound time.
Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 7 5:30 p.m. LAD …
