Vesia's one-pitch save gets Dodgers out of a tight spot

LOS ANGELES -- Left-handed reliever Alex Vesia began doing the math when Giancarlo Stanton’s grounder hit the third-base bag and bounced into left field. The Yankees had a string of lefty hitters due up. Their bats -- silent to that point -- were coming to life. Dodgers closer Blake Treinen had recorded four outs in the World Series opener and was working deep counts in Game 2.

Vesia realized this could become his game awfully quickly. At that very instant, the phone rang.

“It all happened pretty fast,” the lefty recounted following the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Quickly following the phone call, Vesia was on the bullpen mound getting loose. A couple batters later, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts left the dugout and pointed toward that ’pen with his left hand. The bases were loaded. There were two outs. The Dodgers were clinging to a precarious lead.

“Thinking back to my front yard at my house -- that’s what we would envision,” Vesia said.

The dream ending took all of one pitch. Vesia threw a fastball. Yankees pinch-hitter Jose Trevino skied it to center field. Tommy Edman settled under it -- and L.A. had a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series.

It was a win that felt mostly comfortable for about seven innings. Then, Shohei Ohtani slid awkwardly into second base, injuring his left shoulder. Suddenly -- with Ohtani’s status in question -- a Game 2 victory felt crucial. (Even more crucial than it already was.)

In the ninth, Treinen surrendered a run and loaded the bases, using 33 pitches to record the first two outs of the inning. Roberts opted for Vesia -- his top left-hander, coming off the best season of his career -- to get the final out.

In some ways, Roberts’ decision was unorthodox. Managers typically live and die with their closers -- particularly managers of teams with World Series-caliber bullpens. Vesia’s one-pitch save in the World Series was the first since at least 1988 (when pitch counts started to be fully tracked).

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Still, the way Roberts has managed this Dodgers bullpen, the move made plenty of sense. Two lefties were due, and the Yankees were light on righty pinch-hitters. Both Vesia and Treinen seemed to agree.

“Gosh, yeah,” Treinen said. “In a perfect world you'd like to go finish your inning. It's not fun being pulled, knowing the pressure's on you. You want to do your job. But, end of the day, I have full faith when he came in. … He's been our most lockdown guy all year, consistently. He's had a phenomenal year and has pitched in huge spots, and what he did tonight is no different.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was forced to call for his light-hitting backup catcher, Trevino, to bat for Austin Wells with the game on the line. Vesia went on the attack, throwing a first-pitch four-seam fastball on the inner half.

“Bases loaded and two outs,” Vesia said. “For me, it was like, starting the hitter 1-0 is all the advantage to the hitter. So I wanted to attack to my strengths and try to execute a pitch.”

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It wasn’t a perfect pitch, by any stretch. Can’t argue with the result, though.

“I threw way too many pitches, put us in a pretty tough spot,” Treinen said. “Pretty awesome for Ves to come in and get that last out.”

Treinen clearly wasn’t at his dominant best. Juan Soto laced a single off the wall to start the frame -- though the inning’s pivotal out may have come when Treinen punched out Aaron Judge with a sweeper off the outside corner.

Stanton followed with a tough-luck RBI single off the bag. Then Treinen failed to put away lefties Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Rizzo. Chisholm lofted a two-strike single. Rizzo earned a two-strike hit-by-pitch.

Roberts resolved for one more batter from Treinen -- righty-hitting shortstop Anthony Volpe.

“I was trying to get him through to Volpe,” Roberts said. “That's where I was at. I just didn't want to go to Alex too soon to potentially take a Volpe tax. I just felt that Blake had enough stuff to get Volpe in that spot.”

Like Judge, Volpe punched out on a sweeper off the plate. Then Treinen ceded the stage to Vesia.

“Pitch after pitch after pitch with Blake -- he was battling,” Vesia said. “The Yankees are a really good team.

“It’s one pitch at a time, one out at a time, Dodgers all the way.”

Sometimes, one pitch is truly all it takes.