Alexander: Dodgers are now one victory away from a World Series parade

NEW YORK — So close. So very, very close.

The Dodgers are now 27 outs away from the promised land, from winning a full-season championship for the first time since 1988 – and shutting up all the doubters and haters who criticize their 2020 title – and giving their fans the parade they missed out on four years ago.

And if the Dodgers do go on to win their eighth World Series championship, give a huge share of the credit to Walker Buehler. Heck, lavish it on the three starting pitchers that most observers – guilty as charged – and, if we’re being perfectly candid, much of the fan base doubted going into this postseason.

Buehler pitched five two-hit innings on Monday night, and probably could have gone out for the sixth as well, since the big game adrenalin that fuels him seemed to be pumping hard. But Dave Roberts was not inclined to let him face the top of the Yankees’ lineup a third time. Given the results posted by six Dodger relievers – on the eve of a bullpen game, no less – it turned out to be a wise move.

And through the first three games, starters Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Buehler posted a 1.65 ERA, giving up three runs in 16⅓ innings before turning things over to the bullpen.

“Certainly, there was a lot said about the rotation given the injuries we accrued coming into the postseason,” he said. “But I think that we just kind of came together collectively, feeling the 13 guys on our roster as far as pitchers were going to do a good job of preventing runs. Obviously, it doesn’t matter how you get them, and we’re doing a nice job of kind of piecing it together.”

Buehler made a little bit of history with his five shutout innings Monday night. He’s just the fourth pitcher, and the first Dodger, to throw at least five shutout innings while allowing two or fewer hits in two World Series games, last night joining his seven-inning effort in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series.

(Or, as we now remember that 18-inning classic, the Max Muncy game.)

And so, regardless of the inconsistency he’s shown over the course of this season in his return from Tommy John surgery (and a hip injury that derailed him in the middle of the season), it is not wise to bet against Buehler in big games.

“I’ve told you guys that’s kind of all I care about,” he said. “But … it makes kind of the regular season work it for me.

“As kind of brutal as it is to say, it takes that adrenalin and stuff to kind of really get me going mentally. I wish I would have felt that all year. I could tell you I’m excited to pitch every single game I’ve ever gone out there, but there is something different in the playoffs.”

His first outing in these playoffs, in Game 3 of the Division Series against San Diego, was not stellar, thanks to a five-run second inning in a 6-5 loss, but he wound up getting through five innings with no additional damage. His second outing, four shutout innings but 90 pitches in an 8-0 win over the Mets in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series, was better.

Maybe he’s just built for Game 3. The more glaring the spotlight, the better he is.

Getting through this postseason and developing some momentum along the way, he said, is “really encouraging for me personally because I know it’s in there and I’ve just got to unlock it a little bit. But that feeling of there’s an organization relying on me today to win a playoff game, I think it’s kind of the weight that I like feeling and kind of gets me in a certain place mentally that it’s kind of hard to replicate (in the regular season).”

The Yankees in general have been flaccid offensively. They had four hits Monday night, had a runner thrown out at the plate when the lumbering Giancarlo Stanton tried to score on a single to left but was gunned down by Teoscar Hernández, and had only three other men reach second base.

That might not have mattered anyway. Even after Alex Verdugo’s two-run homer in the ninth off of Michael Kopech made it close, the Yankees are hitting .186 in the series overall and are 4 for 20 with runners in scoring position in the first three games.

And the heart of their lineup still has a hole in it: Aaron Judge did reach base twice Monday night, grounding into a force play and drawing a walk, but the presumptive American League MVP is 1 for 12 with seven strikeouts.

It was noted here that under similar circumstances, when Dave Winfield went 1 for 22 against the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series, the late George Steinbrenner started calling him “Mr. May,” a biting reference to Reggie Jackson’s “Mr. October” nickname. Given that history, would Judge be considered Mr. March right now, or maybe Mr. February?

But maybe the conversation should be less about the Yankees’ offensive failures and more about the Dodgers’ pitching accomplishments.They’ve now posted four shutouts in 14 postseason games, two each against the Padres and the Mets.

One of those, of course, was a bullpen game in San Diego, which turned out to be an 8-0 win in an elimination game.

And guess who starts for the Dodgers on Tuesday night: Good old TBA. Johnny Wholestaff gets a chance to put a seal on this championship Tuesday night, and of the leverage relievers only Blake Treinen wasn’t used in Game 3.

I don’t think anyone imagined the Dodgers would be playing with house money by this point – definitely not at the start of October, and not going into this series, either. But maybe it’s time to reevaluate.

The Dodgers won more games than anyone in the regular season, even with an injury list that kept expanding. The three MVPs at the top of their lineup have outplayed the Yankees’ Judge, Stanton and Juan Soto, and Game 3 gave not much more evidence than Games 1 and 2 that the bottom of the New York lineup can be productive.

Maybe the secret weapon was the five days off they received after closing out the Mets in six games in the NL Championship Series two Sundays ago. That gave Freddie Freeman time to rest and get treatment on his injured ankle, and look at the results. He’s 4 for 12 with seven RBIs and three very impactful home runs, including a two-run shot into the right field stands Monday night to get them off and running.

“Obviously we all know how great a player Freddie Freeman is,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think clearly having those few days following their Championship Series probably served him well, and it helped him most notably probably in the batter’s box. He’s getting off swings you’re typically used to seeing Freddie get off, where maybe that wasn’t happening in the previous rounds with the injury.”

While Freeman continued his tear, Shohei Ohtani rejoined the lineup two days after partially dislocating his left shoulder. He wore what appeared to be a sling under his warmup jacket when he went out for pregame introductions, and he said it was “a device that keeps my shoulder warm.” He reached base twice (walking and scoring in the first inning and being hit by a pitch in the ninth), but he was not as impactful as normal.

“If it was more of the right shoulder, than I think it would have impacted my swing,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton. “Thankfully, it was my left, so I don’t think it really did.”

For much of this season Ohtani carried this team. Maybe it’s only right that his teammates pick him up now.

The bottom line? They’re just 27 outs away. And yes, Roberts was asked about the perils of a 3-0 series lead, given that he was the impetus of the only team to overcome one in a baseball postseason series.

“Don’t talk about that,” he said. “Wrong guy. Way too early.

“… There’s just got to be urgency. I just don’t want to let these guys up for air.”

To be honest, I don’t think urgency will be a problem Tuesday night. Not when they’re this close to that parade.

jalexander@scng.com