Dodgers News: Walker Buehler admits he wondered if he was strong enough to compete

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost 6-3 to the Colorado Rockies in the second of their three-game series on Saturday. The Dodgers’ offense was not powerful enough throughout the game, although they had many opportunities to win the game.

Still, the Dodgers have a great chance to win the series and keep the National League West lead at arm’s length from the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers’ main goal is to be as healthy as possible so they can perform at their best in the playoffs.

The Dodgers have suffered a lot of injuries on their pitching staff, which forced them to resort to other pitchers such as former All-Star Walker Buehler in October. Buehler is healthy enough to be a starter for the Dodgers toward the end of the season.

While he wasn’t the Buehler we all know and love, he’s slowly getting back to where he thinks he can be. Buehler suffered a loss on Saturday, but left the competition with more confidence than before, when he was still wondering if he had enough to compete.

“I’ve had some rough patches where I really doubted if I had what it took to compete,” Buehler said. “Tonight I felt like I could compete, but I just didn’t make the big shots in the big situations or I made little mistakes in the big situations, and that’s frustrating. … There were some encouraging things in there, but obviously not good enough at this point in the year when we’re trying to keep the lead in the division.”

The 30-year-old is now 1-6 on the year, but Saturday’s contest was arguably his best outing, in which he set a season-high nine strikeouts, but allowed four runs on five hits and one walk in 5.1 innings.

Buhrler struggled early on, allowing a leadoff double to Charlie Blackmon to open the game, then walking Ezequiel Tovar. He allowed one run in the first inning. After two innings, Buehler had allowed two more runs, but he still managed to last five innings for the fourth consecutive game.

Buehler now has a 5.06 ERA in September after four starts. Overall, he has a 5.63 ERA with 63 strikeouts and a 1.58 WHIP in 15 starts and 70.1 innings. Given all of LA’s injuries, Buehler will be a big player in the postseason.

Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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