LOS ANGELES -- Against the ropes in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo decided to ask his bullpen to cover a whopping 19 outs.

On the road.

In a raucous postseason atmosphere.

A few months ago, that strategy would¡¯ve been untenable. Now? Well, needless to say, this Arizona bullpen is not that Arizona bullpen.

¡°Is anybody's bullpen ever [the same] bullpen as six months ago?¡± general manager Mike Hazen said. ¡°It's crazy. We talk about this stuff all the time. It's the most difficult thing to do in this game, in my opinion, is putting a bullpen together, keeping that bullpen healthy. ¡­ This bullpen has become a strength of our team for sure. We saw that in the Milwaukee series. But we really saw that from the Trade Deadline on.¡±

In the team's two-game sweep of Milwaukee, Arizona relievers combined to record 9 1/3 scoreless innings. There was no bulk pitcher to cover that workload. It took seven relief arms across two games to carry the D-backs into their NL Division Series showdown against the Dodgers.

• Dodgers-D-backs position-by-position breakdown |?NLDS Game 1 FAQ

¡°There's probably tier one, tier two and tier three of guys I can go to that are going to collect big outs,¡± said Lovullo. ¡°It gives me a lot of versatility. ¡­ It's part of what makes your team good, when you have a lot of options that aren't just throw-away options. They're legitimate options that will help you win a game.¡±

In that sense, the D-backs¡¯ bullpen has undergone a serious transformation from the unit that entered September ranked 25th in the Majors with a 4.69 ERA. Since then, Arizona¡¯s 2.31 relief ERA ranks third.

The pieces began falling into place when Paul Sewald, acquired at the Trade Deadline from Seattle, took over the closer role.

¡°When we acquired Paul, we had talked about not having a closer for a couple years now,¡± Hazen said. ¡°That was my fault. We tried to piece it together in various ways. When we did acquire that closer, when we got him, I think what it did by pushing everybody a little bit forward was settling everybody into roles and allowing for stability.¡±

Indeed, Sewald stabilized the back end. He¡¯s gotten hot at the right time, too, allowing just two hits while striking out eight across five straight scoreless outings of an inning apiece.

Still, it wasn¡¯t as simple as putting Sewald at the back end and letting the rest of the dominoes fall. The D-backs signed Ryan Thompson to a Minor League deal on Aug. 19 after he was released by the Rays. He¡¯s since allowed one run in 15 2/3 innings.

Shortly thereafter, the team promoted prospect Andrew Saalfrank. The 26-year-old left-hander still hasn¡¯t allowed an earned run. He made his postseason debut in Game 2 on Wednesday by escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth with a pair of weak ground balls.

¡°Not probably how you want to draw it up for a young kid,¡± Hazen said. ¡°But Torey fired him in there, and he's been nails since we brought him up.¡±

Add the steady Kevin Ginkel to that group, and the rest of the pieces just fit. Former All-Star Joe Mantiply joins Saalfrank as lefty matchup weapons. Miguel Castro has been excellent down the stretch.

¡°Everybody¡¯s capable of leverage,¡± Saalfrank said. ¡°I think that¡¯s a pretty unique situation to have. There¡¯s like six, seven, eight guys that can throw in the eighth inning. ¡­ And the farther you go in the playoffs, the more leverage it is. Paul said it best: Every inning is the ninth inning.¡±

Of course, this revamped D-backs bullpen is about to get tested like it hasn¡¯t been tested all year. They were up for the moment in Milwaukee. But this Dodgers lineup is a nightmare for teams looking for matchups.

• 'They're going to have to beat us': D-backs aim to flip script vs. LA

At the top, good luck matching up with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Max Muncy -- two lefties, two righties, all perennially in the All-Star discussion. At the bottom, Los Angeles expertly uses its deep bench to maneuver its way around matchups. Bring in a lefty? The team will counter with a righty. And vice versa.

It¡¯s certainly no easy task. But let¡¯s just say this bullpen is better equipped for it than the one the D-backs trotted out two months ago.

¡°You hear a lot that hitting is contagious,¡± Saalfrank said. ¡°I think pitching is contagious, too. When you know the guy in front of you is doing their job, it¡¯s a little easier almost to go out there and try and do yours.¡±