The Los Angeles Dodgers had their backs to the wall on Wednesday night. They responded by making Major League Baseball history.
Trailing 2-1 in the National League Division Series against the rival San Diego Padres, the Dodgers had run short on starting pitching. In fact, that's been the theme of their entire season. So with no one trusted to turn to, manager Dave Roberts decided to go with the kitchen sink.
The Dodgers went with a full-on bullpen game in Game 4, and it worked to absolute perfection. Ryan Brasier, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen, and Landon Knack each kept the Padres off the scoreboard en route to an 8-0 victory.
It was a season-saving performance, but it was also a historic one. The Dodgers accomplished something no team had ever done before in the postseason... until another team beat them to the punch by the slimmest of margins.
According to Alden González of ESPN, no team had ever thrown a shutout in the playoffs while using at least eight pitchers before Wednesday. Then, both the Detroit Tigers and Dodgers accomplished the feat on the same day, just a few hours apart.
The Tigers, who are now one win away from advancing to the American League Championship Series, defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 behind an eight-pitcher shutout of their own.
As for the winner-take-all Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers have yet to decide who will get the ball and face Padres starter Yu Darvish, who shut down the L.A. lineup for seven innings in Game 2.
Another full bullpen game seems unlikely, but perhaps the Dodgers could deploy an opener ahead of a "bulk" pitcher like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who started Game 1. Yamamoto fared poorly in his first postseason start, but received a $325 million contract for a reason.
Make no mistake, the Dodgers will need more from their traditional starting pitchers if they want to make the most of this postseason run. For now, though, their bullpen has prolonged it.
More MLB: Dodgers could be surprise destination for Yankees $144 million superstar
