LOS ANGELES -- Yasmani Grandal will start at catcher in tonight's Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers, manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday.
Austin Barnes started in Saturday's 4-3 Game 2 win after Grandal committed two errors and two passed balls in Friday night's 6-5 Game 1 loss. Barnes drew a critical bases-loaded walk in the Game 2 comeback.
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Rookie Walker Buehler is the Game 3 starting pitcher for the Dodgers. Buehler has a 1.94 ERA pitching 106 2/3 innings to Grandal and a 4.99 ERA pitching 30 2/3 innings to Barnes.
"[Grandal's] had a lot of innings from Walker, and we like that battery," Roberts said. "We like him against [Milwaukee right-handed starting pitcher] Jhoulys Chacin. He's had a lot of success against right-handed hitters.
"And you'll essentially see that left-handed lineup against a right-handed pitcher. I don't know if we're going to keep the same or could add a little bit in the middle part of the order, but I would expect to see those same guys out there."
That means, most likely, a lineup that includes Joc Pederson, Player Page for Max Muncy, Yasiel Puig and Cody Bellinger.
Worth noting
Roberts said if Game 2 had gone extra innings, scheduled Game 4 starter Rich Hill was ready to pitch in relief. Roberts ended up using seven of his eight relievers, everybody but Julio Urias, who had pitched the night before and is coming off shoulder surgery.
"So in about the seventh inning I had [pitching coach] Rick Honeycutt talk to Rich and just kind of gauge his temperature," said Roberts. "And so he was in to go in an emergency. So that allowed for me to essentially deploy guys knowing we had some coverage on the back end."
Roberts said Muncy was the emergency third catcher. At game's end, the Dodgers had used every position player.
"He's caught before in the past, and we talked about it," Roberts said of Muncy. "He feels comfortable. Obviously not completely comfortable. But I think in that situation, obviously you know that that situation might not present itself again. There is a point in time where a manager has to make a decision whether you're going to be all-in. And to extend the game is a bigger, a better chance than worrying about the fallout, and I think we were in that position."