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World Series 2024: Walker Buehler delivers his best performance of the year, giving the Dodgers one championship win
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World Series 2024: Walker Buehler delivers his best performance of the year, giving the Dodgers one championship win

NEW YORK – The last two years have been full of unknowns for Walker Buehler.

When he tore his UCL for the second time during the 2022 season, there were immediate questions about whether a man who was once one of the best young starters in baseball could return. And with a team looking for reinforcements so quickly, would there be a spot for him with the Dodgers if he returns?

But in big games, there is a way to find LA’s right-hander. And when everything is on the table and the Dodgers put their chips in the middle, Buehler is the man to bet on.

“That feeling today that an organization is relying on me to win a playoff game, I think that’s a kind of weight that I like to feel,” Buehler said after his team’s 4-2 win in Game 3 of the World Series. “It kind of puts me in a place mentally where it’s hard to reproduce.”

For the second time in as many starts, Buehler silenced a New York audience. This time it was in the Bronx, and his performance on Monday against the Yankees put LA on the precipice of winning this World Series.

Buehler’s first season after his second Tommy John surgery was filled with ups and downs. The Dodgers’ right-hander struggled to find the strike zone, opponents pitched the baseball and difficulty assembling his arsenal sometimes left him wondering if he still had what it took to compete.

But in Game 3 against New York, Buehler not only had what it took to compete, but he also had arguably his best stuff, especially when it came to his fastball. He got the Yankees going with his four-seamer, pitching six whiffs and nine called strikes and staying ahead of hitters all night.

“It kind of felt like it used to, at least a little closer,” Buehler said of his fastball with a smile. “Had a few swing-and-misses early in the game. That mentally makes you think, ‘I’m off to a good start today.’”

On Monday, Buehler didn’t allow a hit until Giancarlo Stanton’s double in the fourth inning. And when he needed it, he got help from his defense, with several defensive gems from Mookie Betts and a laser from Teoscar Hernández, who ejected Stanton at home to end the fourth game. The early run support — in the form of a first-inning blast and two runs from Freddie Freeman — allowed the seven-year veteran to be aggressive throughout the night.

“Tonight I thought his stuff was as good as it’s been all year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “I thought the fastball had life. The cutter was good. The curveball was good. He hit in all four quadrants. Kept the boys honest and kept them in check. … I couldn’t have asked for more from Walker tonight.”

Buehler, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, has struck out 11 batters in his last two starts, including five on Monday, and has fared well on the road in hostile environments this October. This continues the trend of Buehler shining in the postseason. After his five shutout innings against the Yankees in Game 3, he is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA in three career World Series starts.

“I think if you take out the second inning (at San Diego in the NLDS) where we didn’t play good defense behind him, he would have rolled zeros in the postseason,” Roberts said.

Buehler admitted there’s something about the postseason that helps him find that little something extra.

“As brutal as it is, it takes the adrenaline and all that stuff to really get me going mentally,” he said. “I wish I felt that all year long… but something is different in the playoffs. And I think, at least in the long run, getting through these playoffs the way I did is really encouraging for me personally. Just because I know it’s in there and I just need to unlock it a little bit.”

Perhaps the biggest story of this World Series for the Dodgers was the performance of their starting lineup. The trio of Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Buehler seemed to be the team’s biggest question heading into this series, but they may be playing their best games ever in the team’s biggest moments.

In three World Series contests, the Dodgers’ three starters have combined to throw 16 2/3 innings, allowing just three earned runs on eight hits. Flaherty, Yamamoto and Buehler also made it through at least five innings each in their starts.

“I think a lot has certainly been said about the rotation given the injuries we sustained in the postseason,” Roberts said. “But I think we just came together and felt like the 13 guys on our roster, pitching-wise, were going to do a good job of preventing runs.”

After Monday, the Dodgers pitchers only need 27 outs.

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