Baker on how scheduling affects his pitching staff for Game 4 and beyond

LOS ANGELES - One major theme of this National League Division Series has been scheduling and how it has affected the players, managers and coaching staffs.

Major League Baseball eliminated its scheduled off-day Sunday when Game 2 was postponed in Washington, D.C., due to inclement weather on Saturday. Game 2 was rescheduled and played Sunday in blustery conditions at Nationals Park.

Both clubs then ventured 2,300 miles to Los Angeles and arrived around 11 p.m. PDT Sunday night. Game 3 was played Monday at 1:08 p.m. PDT, 14 hours after the Nationals arrived in California.

Then, on Monday night, the teams had to wait until close to 11 p.m. PDT to find out what time their game would begin Tuesday. If the Cubs had won, the game would have been scheduled for a 5:05 p.m. PDT start. But because the Giants survived for another day with a 6-5 13-inning thriller, today's Game 4 first pitch was schedule for 2:08 p.m. PDT.

Three days later, manager Dusty Baker empathized with the tough decision to postpone Game 2.

"It couldn't be helped, really, the scheduling oddities," he said. "The league, I think it made a wise decision for us not to hang around there and try to play and call the game off the way they did."

"I know the league gets a lot of flak sometimes about scheduling and not calling off games. But I think they did the right thing. You just have to deal with it. In this game, only the strong-willed and the strong-minded people will do well and survive."

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who contributed a key two-run double in the ninth inning Monday, agreed that scheduling cannot factor into a player's focus.

"We travel a lot east to west and play the next day," Zimmerman said. "The one o'clock (start) was a little tough, but this is playoff baseball. If you're tired and you can't get excited to play in these games, it's time to go do something different."

Both managers did not stay up last night to wait for the outcome of the San Francisco/Chicago NLDS game.

"I couldn't, because we were still on East Coast time," said Baker. "So I watched it up until (Kris) Bryant tied it up, and then I turned it off. Had to get my sleep."

Baker also did not reveal that right-hander Joe Ross was his scheduled starter for today's Game 4 until this morning. Baker also said Reynaldo Lopez would be available to piggyback in relief if Ross gets into trouble.

"We decided on Joe last night," Baker confirmed. "We wrestled between Lopez and him, and we know Joe will go shorter than Lopez, but we still have Lopez to back up."

The most pitches Ross has thrown since his return from the disabled list was 90 on Sept. 29 in the Nationals' 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks. Ross went four innings, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 57 pitches for strikes.

Ross made a quality start at Dodger Stadium on June 22. The Oakland, Calif., native tossed 6 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Corey Seager hit a solo homer off Ross in the third inning. The Dodgers eventually walked off with two runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 victory.

He was put on the disabled list 11 days later with right shoulder inflammation and returned Sept. 18.

His pitch count was ramped up in those three starts from 51 to 63 to 90. Asked about Ross' pitch count today, Baker said another factor that made Ross the Game 4 starter was the 23-year-old's ability at the plate.

"Just like I always tell you, I'm just looking for a performance, just give us all of what you've got, and then we'll take it from there," Baker said of an innings count for Ross today.

"One thing about Joe, if his spot's coming up and he's still strong, and depending on the score, what helps is that I don't have to hit for him, because he's one of the best hitters I have. That went into our decision, too."

Game 3 also played out well for Baker's bullpen. Thanks to Gio Gonzalez and the relievers not giving up big innings, the skipper was able to save Lopez for today.

Baker said the Nationals' schedule changes also became a factor for how he placed his pitching staff or held them back. Lopez turns into a welcome insurance policy, an available option if Ross falters.

"(It) threw us off by having these three games in a row versus two games in a row with an off-day," Baker said. "So we had to regroup and recalculate things, and I'm just glad that we have Lopez today."