Backs Against The Wall, Once Again We'll See What The 2013 Dodgers Are Made Of

After losing two in St. Louis with both staff aces taking the mound, the Dodgers have dug themselves into what some might believe is an insurmountable hole.  In a 24 hour period the they went from a highest of highs to perhaps their low morale point on the season.  Not only is the offense AWOL, but now their most potent offensive threat isn’t in the lineup and their amazing rookie sensation went 0-10 with six strikeouts, many in crucial at bats that could have turned two defeats into two victories.

(photo by Jon SooHoo/L.A. Dodgers)

So let’s look at the positive:

They could be the Giants, or the Angels or even the Braves for that matter that would love to be in their position.  Being down 2-0 isn’t unsurmountable and four Dodger teams in post-season history have come back from 0-2 deficits to win series.  (The ’81 Dodgers actually did it twice).  And...

The pitching has been fantastic, both starting and relief.  Additionally, Kershaw threw just 72 pitches, which means he’ll probably be seriously considered to come back and pitch earlier than expected.  And...

Umm, Yeah.  I got nothing else.  Sorry.

Game three will be crucial as St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright gets the nod against Hyun-jin Ryu who was awful in his only post season outing last week.  If the Dodgers do manage to win that game, there will have to be discussion about either bringing back Greinke on three days rest or pitching Ricky Nolasco, who hasn’t been in a game since getting rocked by Colorado on September 29th.

(photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports)

So in this miracle comeback season the Dodgers will once again have to pull out another rabbit out of the hat.  Just as everything looks to be down and their backs are completely against the wall, it's gut-check time again.  Can Puig return to form?  Will Hanley recover enough to return to the lineup?  Will Ethier's ankle injury be too much to overcome?  Can Ryu and Nolasco find their old magic and come through in the pressure of a world-wide stage and pennant determining championship series?  There are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

One last thing.  Post game notes report that Hanley Ramirez’ x-rays came back negative.   Which immediately brought back memories of this George Costanza scene in a Seinfeld episode.  Hey, we might as well laugh at something today.