Major League Baseball

How Walker Buehler channeled 'fear' into vintage form in Dodgers' rout of Mets

Updated Oct. 17, 2024 11:45 a.m. ET

NEW YORK — Walker Buehler lives for October.

It's the first thing he said after he helped the Los Angeles Dodgers clinch the division last month. Their late September game against the rival Padres had a playoff feel to it, and after months spent battling through up-and-down results, his return to dominance against San Diego gave Buehler more confidence that he could step up for his club when it needs him the most.

That time came Wednesday in a pivotal Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, where it was up to Buehler to set the tone against the New York Mets. With the series tied at one game apiece, and the Mets holding home-field advantage, it would take a gutsy outing from Buehler to give Los Angeles' lineup enough breathing room to do its job.

Not only did Buehler deliver, he put on a show we haven't seen from the 30-year-old in a few years.

"It's so overused, but pressure is a privilege," Buehler said. "Talking about how many starts I've gotten to make, that's the privilege part of it, right? I've gotten to do this a lot of times, and these games certainly get me excited, but they don't overwhelm me like they used to when I was young my first couple of [playoff] starts. I'm just fortunate to be a part of this organization and a part of this team, specifically."

Buehler allowed just three hits and struck out six across four scoreless frames in the Dodgers' 8-0 rout over the Mets at Citi Field. He finished his outing by retiring seven straight batters, but no moment encapsulated his spunky performance better than his drama-fueled second-inning matchup against Francisco Lindor.

With two outs and the bases loaded, the Mets were threatening to erase Los Angeles' 2-0 lead when their MVP shortstop dug into the box. But Buehler had a game plan to follow, and he wasn't going to let New York's best hitter get in the way of executing it. He peppered his best offspeed pitch of the night, a 78 mph knuckle curveball, in between his 95 mph heater enough times that Lindor got off balance. Finally, with the count full and 43,883 fans on their feet, Buehler got Lindor to swing and miss at yet another curveball to end the inning and the threat. He walked off the mound screaming into the frigid October air, daring the Mets to even attempt to hit him.

"For me, personally, it's huge," Buehler said of striking out Lindor. "I think the last time I really made a pitch like that, in the playoffs, that kind of got it through was 2020 [NLCS] against Atlanta."

Buehler said he channeled "the fear of pitching the way I pitched all year" in order to get out of the bases-loaded jam. He struggled to find his new identity during his return from Tommy John surgery this season, posting a 5.84 ERA across his first eight starts of 2024 before landing on the injured list with hip inflammation in June. Once he started trusting his mechanics again, Buehler said throwing a big pitch in a big spot was one of the final items on his checklist that would prove to him that he was back in pre-surgery form.

Buehler squandered that opportunity in Game 3 of the NLDS versus the Padres, who tagged him for six runs in the second inning of a Dodgers defeat. Facing another stress-filled second inning Wednesday, after surrendering two walks and an infield single to load the bases, Buehler prevailed with back-to-back strikeouts — capped by the curve to Lindor.

"I don't think anyone over there would've expected Walker to throw that pitch in that situation," third baseman Max Muncy said. "That's why Walker did it."

As much as the Dodgers needed the win, this was the game the Mets perhaps had to take. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty coming up in Games 4 and 5, Wednesday was New York's best opportunity to place Los Angeles at a disadvantage. Jose Quintana is toeing the hill for the Mets on Thursday, so they were hoping to charge ahead to a 3-1 series lead by the time Friday's Game 5 rolled around. But Buehler had other plans.

Expertly relying on his offspeed pitches to keep Mets hitters off balance, Buehler had registered more swings-and-misses (11) by the end of the second inning than he had in his five innings against the Padres last week (8). According to Elias Sports Bureau, Buehler's 18 total swings-and-misses were his most since 2021, and the most through the first four innings of a postseason game by any pitcher since Kyle Lohse in 2003. The Dodgers would've loved for the right-hander to pitch beyond the fourth inning given the way he was dealing. But since Buehler averaged more than 20 pitchers per inning, he only faced the Mets twice through the order.

That wasn't a problem for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who prepared for a situation like Game 3 — where several innings had to be covered by his high-leverage relief arms. After Buehler's night ended somewhat early, Michael Kopech, Ryan Brasier, and Blake Treinen combined to throw three shutout innings and register four strikeouts while allowing just one hit from the ‘pen. Catcher Will Smith said Brasier's double-play ball to Jose Iglesias that ended the sixth inning completely eradicated any chance for the Mets to build momentum.

He was right. Dodgers bats continued to pile on — including home runs from Shohei Ohtani, Kiké Hernández and Muncy — while the Mets' slim hopes for a comeback, no matter how resilient they've been this postseason, fully slipped away. But the belief that New York could get a series lead was already on its way out the door with every inning Buehler put up a zero.

"In my career here as a Dodger, Walker's probably been one of the most big-time playoff pitchers that I've seen," Treinen said. "I think for him, coming back from the surgery, there's been a lot of learning on the fly. And what he's been able to do recently, the results haven't always matched how well he's pitched. Today was nice to see the results match the hard work he's putting in."

Buehler's 17 playoff starts rank second to only Clayton Kershaw in Dodgers franchise history. Prior to undergoing a second UCL reconstruction in August 2022, he carried a phenomenal 2.94 career ERA in October. Though that mark took a hit in the NLDS, Buehler was able to rebound with three clean frames versus the Padres — after they initially rocked him — to jumpstart the Dodgers' record-tying 33 scoreless innings in the postseason.

On Wednesday, as he continued traversing the long and winding road that has forced the two-time All-Star to reinvent himself, Buehler reminded baseball of one thing as he led the Dodgers to an enormous win: He is still Walker Buehler.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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