'Tale of 2 games' for Buehler in uplifting start

The bar for the Dodgers in general, and for Walker Buehler in particular, is way high.

After late three-run homers by AJ Pollock and Mookie Betts gave them a 6-2 comeback win over the Giants on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, Buehler described how pleased he was that he didn’t “mess it up.”

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That’s after pitching 4 2/3 innings before allowing his first and only hit, the best start of three this year. He was charged with two runs in 5 2/3 innings while striking out six. He was understandably critical of issuing four walks leading off innings -- and he hit a batter, who scored -- but he considered allowing no home runs a step forward after serving up four in 8 2/3 innings previously.

“A little bit erratic. At times you can get a little of that effectively wild thing that happens in this game,” said Buehler. “A tale of two games for me -- the leadoff stuff is what it is, you don’t feel great about it. And then you get into the stretch and let some balls go and sequencing to the way I normally do. There was improvement in the conviction and hiding the ball. It was another step forward, and hopefully I’ll do better next time.”

Regardless of the pandemic and how many clubs make the playoffs, the Dodgers need Buehler to be the ace heir-apparent, especially with David Price and Alex Wood missing from the rotation after the departures of starters Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill. Buehler was an All-Star who went 14-4 last season, and that’s what the game expects from him.

Buehler, though, reported to Summer Camp behind schedule because, he said, of the uncertainty when play would resume. Last year he also had a slow start after nursing a sore arm in Spring Training.

“Last year I was really, really, really bad for three or four, maybe even five outings,” he said. “Today wasn’t my best outing by any means, but I feel encouraged. It’s hard, on a team this good, you just don’t want to mess it up. Today, more so than the first two games, I kind of felt like I knew what I was doing.”

Buehler can be his toughest critic. His teammates seem more impressed.

“Walker’s extremely competitive, and he’s fiery and he’s got electric stuff,” said Pollock, who has four homers after returning from a bout with COVID-19.

“I’ve faced him a bunch of times, and he’s just super talented. There’s not many guys that have that kind of stuff in the game and have that much fire. We’re going to need him. We all know he’s one of the guys we’re counting on. It’s good he’s a tough critic. He’s going to be harsh on himself, but his stuff is great. You still love it when you’re playing behind him, you feel really good about your chances of winning."

“Today I had some arm-side misses, which is more normal for me," Buehler said. "When I rush, typically, it was the pullness that was frustrating me because it’s not normal. There’s an acceptable level of miss and misfire that you have to live with in some way, and I think if you can do that to one side, you can fix it.

"Missing both ways is a little more difficult. Today, missing high arm-side is very fixable for me. San Diego and Houston, spiking heaters, I think that’s where the frustration came from.”

Manager Dave Roberts said Buehler was “considerably better” than his first two starts.

“He still gave us a chance to win the game, and that’s his value,” said Roberts.

Pollock got the Dodgers the lead in the seventh inning, and Betts added a cushion, while the Dodgers' bullpen took the baton from Buehler and didn’t let up. Caleb Ferguson struck out all three batters he faced and combined with winner Jake McGee, Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen to finish off the final 3 1/3 innings.