You don’t want to hear from me. You want to hear from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers are one loss away from an abrupt end to their season and a sweep of the National League Championship Series by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Let’s review the critical decisions Roberts made Wednesday night, the ones you guessed at home. They all turned against him.
Situation: In the third inning, then again in the fifth inning, Tommy Edman came to bat with Miguel Rojas on first base, no outs, and the Dodgers trailed, 1-0. By the end of the fifth, the Dodgers had gone nine straight scoreless innings, and with a game plan of getting ahead before the Brewers’ vaunted bullpen could take over. Roberts doesn’t ask Edman, one of the team’s most accomplished bunters, to sacrifice the runner in scoring position.
Robert: “I just didn’t feel like giving up an out at that point. … We could have gone for a bunt, but I felt like I wanted to give Tommy the opportunity to throw in a run. … We didn’t have any hits with runners in scoring position (3 for 32 in the playoffs). To give up an out, bank on a hit with runners in scoring position, I’d rather just try to maybe hit a double.”
Result: Edman flew away both times. The Dodgers did not score in either inning.
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Situation: In the sixth inning, with the Dodgers still trailing 1-0, the Brewers turned to Abner Uribe, who had faced 26 batters and walked two in the postseason. Uribe walks the first two batters and Roberts deploys his main left-handed threat to the bench, Max Muncy. This removes right-hander Andy Pages from the game; the only Dodgers with more success than Pages in October are Kyle Tucker and Mookie Betts.
Roberts: “Abner, it’s the death of righties. You’re trying to guard against – you want to continue the inning and you don’t want a double play. Muncy doesn’t start and you want to pull that ball into a leverage point. First and second base, no one gets out, that gives us the best chance to continue the inning, in my opinion, and it gets Shohei up, and you have a chance to build an inning.”
Result: Muncy was removed.
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Josue DePaula’s presence was wasted in Game 3.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Situation: After Muncy, Ohtani walked to load the bases, and Will Smith followed with a two-run double to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. With right-hander Rojas expected, Roberts opts for left-hander Josue De Paula as his pinch hitter. Brewers manager Pat Murphy quickly replaced Uribe with left-hander DL Hall, who was warming up. Roberts counterattacks with right-hander Kiké Hernández.
Robert: “It’s a decision: Do I want Uribe to face Rojas? Then I picked De Paula, and they made the move. At that point, I felt like we had the advantage in the matchup with Kiké. … For me, all the experience that Kiké had, I feel very confident with Kiké taking the bat with a guy in the second and third rows, inside the infield.”
Result: Hernandez withdrew the bat, as did Edman. The inning was over and the Dodgers didn’t want to advance another man past first base for the rest of the night. The Dodgers could have used De Paula to beat right-hander Trevor Megill in the ninth inning, but Roberts had already burned him.
Murphy said Uribe was coming out after Smith’s double no matter what — at that point, Uribe had thrown six strikes and 14 balls — so Roberts could have saved De Paula if he had waited to see what Murphy would do.
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Situation: Blake Snell retired 14 straight batters heading into the seventh inning, with the Dodgers leading 2-1. This is the first time left-hander Snell has pitched beyond the sixth inning this season, with right-hander Andrew Vaughn leading the way and lefties Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell following. Evan Phillips warms up in the Dodgers bullpen.
Robert: “His stuff was really good. I don’t think they were seeing it right. I was trying to find him three other hitters. We had Evan for that fourth hitter.”
Result: Vaughn walks, on six pitches. Bauers home runs, on 11 pitches. The Brewers lead 3-2.
Robert: “I didn’t allow a home run all year, but that’s just… that’s baseball. For me, I felt good about where Blake’s business was. You have to give Bauers credit.”
Situation: At that point, Snell was at 99 shots, two shy of his season high, after the grueling battles with Vaughn and Bauers. Roberts sticks to his plan: Snell for Mitchell, then Phillips for right-hander Cooper Pratt.
Result: Mitchell homered, giving the Brewers a 4-2 lead. Hall and Megill combine for 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, and the Dodgers are one loss away from winter break.
Gn sports
