PHILADELPHIA \u2014 As his bullpen once again threatened to descend into chaos, Dave Roberts left it to his players to come up with a way to get out of it. The Los Angeles Dodgers were at risk of squandering a potential commanding lead in the National League Division Series when Roberts summoned Alex Vesia into the cauldron.<\/p>\n
All the momentum they\u2019d taken from the Philadelphia Phillies was 180 feet away, with the potential tying run at second base with no one out. That\u2019s when the manager looked at his players during the pitching change.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou guys figure it out,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
Mookie Betts made a suggestion. The six-time Gold Glove-winning right fielder, making just his fourth career postseason start at shortstop, did not think. He just spoke.<\/p>\n
Betts\u2019 comfort at his new position allowed him to propose something the Dodgers had hardly considered since spring training, much less practiced or executed: the wheel play. It\u2019s a scheme that aggressively shifts their defenders around in the middle of a bunt attempt to try to get the lead runner.<\/p>\n
It worked. The Dodgers held on for a 4-3 win, jumping out to a commanding 2-0 lead at Citizens Bank Park in the best-of-five series. The Phillies are firmly on the ropes as the action shifts to Dodger Stadium starting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers\u2019 mood after Game 2 was one of jubilation, a remarkable conclusion to an enthralling game. Roberts found Betts, third baseman Max Muncy, infielder Miguel Rojas and outfielder Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez and recounted what they\u2019d just done.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d escaped a disaster because of the trust Roberts put in Betts, the former MVP who made a seemingly impossible transition to shortstop at age 32.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody\u2019s gotta do it,\u201d Betts said. \u201cI figured if there was ever a good time to make a decision and roll with it, that was the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers got that precious last out just as their makeshift bullpen needed it, and it took a strategy they hardly ever attempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, that was our only chance, really, to win that game in that moment,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
The wheel play is not something the Dodgers practice in spring training. And even if it were, it\u2019s not something a team would pull out all that often. The mechanics can be chaotic. One misstep can make an aggressive play into a game-breaking one.<\/p>\n
The Phillies entered the ninth trailing 4-1 and quickly reminded the Dodgers why their bullpen concerns are so loud. The Phillies strung three consecutive hits off Blake Treinen, with Nick Castellanos lifting a soft double that cut the Dodgers\u2019 lead to one and brought Vesia into the game. The new reliever didn\u2019t know what was happening until the robotic PitchCom voice laid out the call.<\/p>\n
Nearly all 45,653 inside Citizens Bank Park figured that Bryson Stott would bunt. So the Dodgers executed the maneuver.<\/p>\n
Betts stayed behind Castellanos as Vesia came set. As soon as Vesia\u2019s motion brought him toward home plate, Betts broke in an all-out sprint with the single goal of beating Castellanos to third base. Freddie Freeman charged from first base and Muncy from third base to field the bunt. Stott was instructed to push it in Muncy\u2019s direction. Muncy fielded the ball cleanly, turned, and threw as Betts was reaching third base. The throw and tag beat Castellanos, who tumbled into Betts for the first out of the inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, everything was just perfect on that play,\u201d Freeman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey executed it really well,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cYou can have the idea, but it comes down to execution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers had already flashed the play in the sequence, as Vesia misfired on his first pitch. Rather than slash and swing away after spotting the play, Stott tried to get the ball down and deaden it, increasing the level of difficulty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey ran it as perfectly as you can,\u201d Stott said. \u201cThey just did it exactly how they drew it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vesia still wobbled from there, giving up a single to pinch hitter Harrison Bader and getting a groundout before Roberts emerged again to get Roki Sasaki in for the final outs. The Dodgers\u2019 bullpen woes have been grave enough that they have gotten just three outs from traditional relievers \u2014 all from Vesia \u2014 to jump out to this 2-0 series advantage.<\/p>\n
Sasaki needed two pitches to get the final out, as Tommy Edman fired a bouncing throw that Freeman had to sprawl to grab to close out the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy gray (hair) right here might be up to my sideburn now,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cThat was a stressful inning.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would\u2019ve been a catastrophic one if not for the first out.<\/p>\n
Betts\u2019 first time calling for the wheel play was also just his second time ever running it. The Dodgers clung to an eighth-inning lead on Aug. 13 against the Angels<\/a> when Rojas, then playing second base, put the play on and reminded Betts of the mechanics of a play he\u2019d never really run from that position. No amount of training this winter with infield coach Chris Woodward had prepared him for a spot like this, and Rojas explained the important specifics. The play worked then, as Christian Moore bunted in Freeman\u2019s direction and he got the out at third base with Betts at the bag just in time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that we don\u2019t really have on the books, for the other teams to know that we run that play,\u201d Rojas said.<\/p>\n