Buehler outdueled in potential WC preview

CINCINNATI -- Given what’s riding on every game for the Dodgers these days, it’s not surprising that Friday’s matchup with the Reds had a postseason feel. With the Reds also playing for something, the opener of this three-game set was a treat – two teams, locked in their own race, with time quickly running out, and leaning on their starting pitchers to hold the line.

This also could have been a preview for a potential National League Wild Card Game showdown. The Dodgers can do no worse than host that game; the Reds, if they can outlast the Cardinals and Padres, could end up nabbing the second spot. That would set up a meeting at Dodger Stadium to determine who advances to the Division Series.

That also presents a chance that the Dodgers could face the same pitcher they saw in their 3-1 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Friday -- Luis Castillo, whom Los Angeles had little success against during the right-hander’s 6 1/3 innings of work.

“Castillo’s got really good stuff,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s going to present challenges, and if he’s on … you knew he was going to be tough.”

Los Angeles’ deficit in the NL West race increased to two games following an 11-inning victory by San Francisco on Friday.

Walker Buehler was also dominant for much of his outing, but Castillo was just a little bit better, and that was the difference. Buehler and Castillo spent the better part of five innings dominating hitters quickly and efficiently. But Buehler blinked first, allowing a run in the fifth, followed by two in the sixth.

The Dodgers, who had outscored opponents 34-12 during their six-game winning streak, scored one run in the ninth off Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen to avoid their sixth shutout of the season. They managed five hits off Castillo.

“It’s just what he does,” Buehler said. “He has a good fastball and a really, really good changeup. Just kept us off balance. It’s pretty well known he’s one of the most talented guys in the league. A good night for him, and unfortunately, I couldn't keep us in it.”

Buehler, who grew up in nearby Lexington, Ky., and was greeted by a robust L.A. crowd that ran nearly four sections deep behind the visitors’ dugout, didn’t allow a runner to reach second until Kyle Farmer, who was the Dodgers’ eighth-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft and played sparingly for them in ‘17 and ‘18, led off the fifth with a double. That resulted in the Reds’ first run when Tucker Barnhart knocked a base hit to center off a curveball.

"Against a guy like Walker, you have to scratch and claw and do anything you can to try to put some good at-bats together,” Barnhart said. “Farmer shot a double down the line. It’s funny. I told Kyle right before he led the inning off, I said, ‘Hey, man, let’s go back-to-back doubles.’ He led off with a double and I mean, I didn’t follow through, but a hit will work just as good in that situation.”

Farmer added a two-run double in the sixth that proved to be the difference-maker.

“I threw a couple bad pitches in a spot where you can’t make them and Farmer took advantage of it with a two-run double,” Buehler said. “I just have to execute better in spots like that.”

If there was a positive to glean from this loss, it’s that if the Dodgers do face the Reds in the Wild Card Game, and it’s Castillo who draws that start, they’ll at least have seen him recently enough to compile a decent scouting report heading into the game.

Of course, if Castillo handles the Dodgers like he did Friday, familiarity won’t matter all that much.

The Dodgers know that winning the division is the safer bet. But was this game a reminder of the dangers of a one-game playoff?

“I don’t think we need any reminders; we know how important every game is,” Roberts said. “We’re trying to win every game. It just didn’t happen tonight. We know what’s at stake every night.”