Game 1 of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers had almost everything a Dodgers fan could ask for. Almost.
You saw Jacob Misiorowski struggle without his best stuff, and the Dodgers’ lineup chase him after just 4â…“ innings. You saw Tarik Skubal turn in the type of performance that usually gets a win, even if you’d want a little more. And you saw the bullpen come out looking basically bulletproof.
Unfortunately, in this rematch from last year’s battle, Milwaukee was a little more prepared to absorb Los Angeles’s punch and hung tough to secure a 2-1 victory. It would have been nice to jump out to a 1-0 series lead and beat the biggest threat remaining to the Dodgers’ three-peat dreams as quickly as possible, but despite the defeat, this is far from over. In a long series like the NLCS, sometimes sending messages is almost as important as winning Game 1, and with a key play in the sixth inning, LA seemed to send a few to the Brewers.
After Milwaukee pressured Skubal in the fifth to score its second run and make him labor, Alex Vesia took the ball in the sixth and immediately walked Jake Bauers to lead off the inning. This was the Brewers’ chance to break open the game and send a message of their own to Los Angeles, but Bauers was quickly erased on a pick-off throw from Vesia. It was a stellar play, and according to some, maybe too stellar.
On Twitter/X, Rob Friedman, also known as “The Pitching Ninja,” questioned whether Vesia’s pickoff move was actually a balk. This is where that messaging comes in, because earlier in the game, Misiorowski was called for a balk in the fourth inning, allowing Teoscar Hernandez to reach second base.
What even is a balk, really? The infraction is so rarely called and almost always seems as if it’s somewhat up to the umpire’s interpretation. According to the rulebook, a balk is when “a pitcher makes an illegal motion on the mound that the umpire deems to be deceitful to the runner(s).” So, not entirely helpful. Of course, the pitcher is trying to deceive the runner, because otherwise pick-off attempts would be futile. It should be noted that a balk can also be called if a pitcher disengages with a batter more than twice in an at-bat. Throws to first base are considered disengagements, so a lot of the cat-and-mouse game between the pitcher and a baserunner has been legislated out of the game. Yet here we are, with a pair of controversial balks that no one seems to agree on.
There are a couple of important takeaways here. The first is that the Dodgers’ bullpen, always a concern around this time of year, is up for the challenge. After Vesia left unscathed, Evan Phillips pitched a scoreless seventh, and Tanner Scott hurled a scoreless eighth. In total, the trio allowed one hit while striking out six. The Brewers now know that this won’t be an easy group to push around.
The other message here, and it might be even more important, is that the umpires might favor the Dodgers in this series. We can look to the balks for the reason why. Even the rulebook states that balks are mostly a judgment call, and the quirkiness of both calls led to some controversy. Maybe it’s as simple as the fact that, as a lefty, his move to first was much more elegant than Misiorowski’s awkward turn. But maybe it’s that the Dodgers will have the advantage on tight calls this entire series.
After all, these are judgment calls, and both went in Los Angeles’s favor, looking good for the rest of the series and putting doubt in the back of the Brewers’ heads. The flip side is that the disparity in calls could give the Brewers the motivation to stick it to the Dodgers in Game 2.
