Don Mattingly won his postseason debut as Dodgers manager in Game 1 of the NLDS Thursday but he didn’t have to make many decisions because ace Clayton Kershaw dominated and his lineup hummed in a 6-1 victory against the Braves.
Game 2 was tighter, though, and some of Mattingly’s late-game decisions are sure to draw the ire of Dodgers supporters.
None was bigger than Mattingly opting to issue a walk and load the bases for Braves slugger Jason Heyward, who rapped a two-run single for a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning. Those runs loomed even larger after Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Dodgers came up short in the 4-3 defeat.
“You always look back at everything,” Mattingly said “’You could have did this, you could have did that.’ So I think you look at it and you look at it honestly and see what you think.”
Mattingly’s troubles started when he gave starter Zach Greinke an early hook in the top of the seventh. Mattingly decided to pinch hit for Greinke with one out and the Dodgers trailing 2-1.
Greinke had thrown just 83 pitches with four hits and two runs allowed. He’s also a good hitter for his position.
The pinch hitter, Michael Young, reached on an infield single but Carl Crawford hit into a double play to end the inning. Mattingly said he didn’t consider letting Greinke hit.
“Not really,” he said. “We felt like we actually got what we want. Michael got a hit and we had a shot at a run there.”
But that chance came at the cost of taking Greinke out of the game. Then Mattingly’s bullpen came undone in the bottom of the seventh.
Right-hander Curtis Whitlow walked Brian McCann to lead off the inning and then gave up a single to Chris Johnson. After Andrelton Simmons moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt, the Braves sent up lefty pinch hitter Jose Constanza.
When Mattingly called on left-hander Paco Rodriguez from the bullpen, the Braves countered with righty Reed Johnson. Mattingly had Rodriguez walk Johnson to load the bases for Heyward.
Mattingly passed on the chance to pitch to Johnson, a bench player who’s only previous postseason at-bat came in Game 1. Heyward hasn’t had much postseason success, either, and he has lackluster numbers against left-handers for his career.
But Heyward is a former All-Star with the kind of power Johnson lacks. Heyward hit Rodriguez’s two-run slider back up the middle to score Johnson and pinch runner B.J. Upton.
“(Rodriguez) is a guy we think gets Heyward out,” Mattingly said. “Been getting those guys out all year long for us.”
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