One of the arguments against bullpen games is that if just one of those pitchers is off his game, the whole thing could unravel. Personally, this has always sounded like a constructed narrative to justify a dislike of a recent trend by the old guard. The flip side is that if your starter is also not on his game, the struggles will prove costly just the same. For the Dodgers, that experience came into play in Game 3 of the NLDS, and for a team with one of the shakiest bullpens in the entire postseason, the damage of it is even larger than you’d expect.

Although each game has been unique, all four Los Angeles wins in the postseason had in common the lengthy outings from ultratalented starters, and even then, the bullpen tried to cough it up on more than one occasion. While everyone didn’t n

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