LOS ANGELES - It's not as if Ryan Madson had been untouchable in Game 1. But he certainly seemed better in his first playoff outing against the Dodgers than he seemed in his second outing.
Madson entered with men on first and third and one out in the eighth inning. He walked Rafael Furcal to load the bases, then struck out Matt Kemp, and exited. Not exactly a cause for alarm, right?
However, after the game, catchers Carlos Ruiz and Paul Bako approached Madson in the clubhouse for a quick chat.
"We were talking about his changeup. Yesterday, it was good," Ruiz said. "Hitters were chasing it."
Madson said he felt nothing changed between Game 1 on Thursday night and Game 2 yesterday. He struggled Thursday, allowing two runs in the eighth inning, runs that meant little since the Phillies held a four-run lead when he entered and held on to win.
The issue yesterday was that his changeup, his money pitch, was not drawing the sort of ferocious swings-and-misses it usually does. Furcal took one at 2-1 during his five-pitch walk.
"I was surprised Furcal was as patient as he was," Madson said. "He's usually a swinger."
That's especially true against Madson. Furcal, a former Brave and a National Leaguer his whole career, has faced Madson plenty, even though Madson primarily has been a reliever.
Entering last night, Furcal had walked just twice in 21 appearances against Madson. He had struck out four times and was 4-for-19.
But yesterday, he looked as if he knew Madson's changeup was coming and, as it usual, it wasn't going to be in the strike zone. He was right. It came, and it was in the dirt.
Was he tipped off by something Madson did?
"I don't know. They didn't swing . . . there's something there, you know? You've got to be careful," Ruiz said when asked if Madson was tipping the changeup. "Maybe he's doing something different with it in his glove. Yesterday it definitely was better."
Ruiz paused.
"Sometimes, that pitch is just difficult to throw. You can't make adjustments on the mound. A smart hitter can pick up everything."
Then, not swing at it.
Sacrificial
Chase Utley probably wishes Russell Martin was a better bunter.
Joe Torre certainly does.
Martin failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning. His foul-ball failure gave him Strike 2, which meant he had to swing away at the next pitch, which he did, sharply hitting a grounder to third. That began what should have been a doubleplay, except Chase Utley overthrew the relay to first base; Martin was safe, the tying run scored and the Dodgers went on to take the lead and win the game
In Martin's defense, he has only three sacrifice hits in his four seasons and none in the postseason. Two of them came this season, both in mid-August, but Martin's role has seldom called for him to do anything but swing away.
He has spent most of his career hitting in the middle of the order, or, when he has struggled, at its bottom.
However, the last time he sacrificed, he came off the bench as a pinch-hitter to do so, in St. Louis on Aug. 17.
He actually reached base in his other successful attempt; a second baseman's error in San Francisco on Aug. 11 helped spur a four-run inning that turned that game around. Of course, that error came because Martin's bunt was hit hard enough to be fielded by the pitcher, who threw to second, where the ball was dropped. It was poor.
But at least it was fair.
"I know it's not something he's comfortable doing," manager Joe Torre said. "He's working on it. He's softening it a lot better. It'll come.
"When I shook his hand after the game, that was the one thing he said: He apologized for the bunt, or the lack of it."
Martin offered Utley no such apology.
Dodges
The Dodgers won despite logging just five hits; they beat the Cardinals here in Game 2 of the Division Series 9 days ago. They are 11-36 in playoff games with five or fewer hits . . . The Dodgers have exited an LCS Game 2 with the series tied at 1-1 four times. They went on to win three of those series . . . Rightfielder Andre Ethier moved to 9-for-20 in five postseason games.
