LOS ANGELES – For the Dodgers’ bullpen, every day is a barn-raising in Amish country – everyone shows up to work and they usually start early.
Five relievers combined to retire all 12 batters they faced, turning in four scoreless innings to make a one-run lead hold up in a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday afternoon.
Dodgers relievers have thrown 47 innings over the past 10 games, only one fewer than the starting pitchers in that time, 73 over the past 18 games and 297 innings this season. Only two teams with winning records have asked more from their bullpen (the Orioles and Pirates) – and only the gold-standard Kansas City Royals bullpen has a lower ERA than the 2.