Inside Walker Buehler's October renaissance: 'No one I'd want more in a big game'

NEW YORK — Walker Buehler wishes he could feel this way all the time. 

He wishes the velocity and characteristics on his fastball, which guided his gem Monday night in the Bronx and moved the Dodgers to within one win of a World Series sweep, could have emerged earlier when he was searching for answers in a rocky transition back to the mound after his second Tommy John surgery. 

He wishes the mechanics that finally came together, which helped him stretch his streak of postseason scoreless innings to 12 after his latest Fall Classic masterpiece, could have been there all year when his command was in disarray. 

He wishes that extra boost of epinephrine, the one that comes from pitching and thriving in October, could be channeled the same way during the six months prior. 

But he can't help it. 

The postseason, and the World Series in particular, brings out a different version of him. 

"I think, as kind of brutal as it is to say, it takes that adrenaline and stuff to kind of really get me going mentally," Buehler said after quieting a crowd of 49,368 fans at Yankee Stadium in a 4-2 win. "I wish I would have felt that all year. I could tell you I'm excited to pitch every single game I've ever gone out there, but there is something different in the playoffs."

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

After a forgettable start to Game 3 of the National League Division Series marred by defensive miscues, he tossed three scoreless innings in San Diego to end that outing. Then he tallied four scoreless innings in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, riding his secondary pitches to more swings and misses than he had in any game since the 2021 season. 

And on Monday, he kept the Yankees off the board for five