After the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 3-1 lead over the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, manager Dave Roberts emphasized a need for his team to head into Game 5 with purpose and sense of urgency.
That was partly behind the Dodgers’ decision to start Jack Flaherty on normal rest in the final NLCS game at Citi Field. It represented a break in tradition as the Dodgers usually provide their starters with at least one extra day of rest between outings.
“I think that he gives us the best chance to win,” Roberts said on Thursday. “We have our full slate of guys behind him, and there’s a sense of urgency to win this game tomorrow.”
Unfortunately for Roberts and the Dodgers, it was readily apparent Flaherty would not repeat his performance of seven shutout innings from Game 1. He labored through three innings, at which point the Dodgers trailed 8-1.
There was an opportunity — if not need — for Roberts to take Flaherty out before the Mets completed a five-run third inning, but he stuck with the struggling starter.
“Right there, looking at the game, we have five leverage innings, and a couple of guys were down, (Ben) Casparius and (Edgardo) Henriquez,” Roberts noted after the Dodgers’ Game 5 loss.
“So you essentially have five leverage innings. You’re talking, we’re down 3-1 at the time and you can’t cover the game with leverage and being down. So you’re trying to get some outs.
“And after the walks in that third inning and then (Starling) Marte, you’re still at that point trying to cover seven innings. He gives up the double, and so for me at 5-1, I’m not going to deploy our leverage guys knowing there’s a cost on the backend and appreciating the fact that there’s still more baseball to play in the series.
“Those are thoughts that went through my head. But I think for me, I have five leverage guys that I wanted to make sure that you got to deploy at the right time.”
Dave Roberts navigating Dodgers bullpen decisions
Roberts faced a similar predicament when the Dodgers opted for a bullpen game in Game 2. But rather than rely on a rotation of high-leverage relievers, the Dodgers planned for Landon Knack to fill a bulk role.
He struggled, and the Mets broke the game open to even up the NLCS at the time.
“It’s not always fun when you’re going through it, certainly from anyone’s chair, certainly my chair,” Roberts said of balancing aggressive use of the bullpen with understanding more games are ahead.
“But you have to kind of remain steadfast in how you use your pitchers because ultimately it’s about winning four games in a seven-game series. When you’re careless, then it will show itself at some point, certainly in a long series. In that point, you know, with our leverage guys, mainly Blake (Treinen) and Evan (Phillips), it’s just not responsible in that point of the game, for me.
“(Brent) Honeywell did a fantastic job saving everyone and knowing we’ve got a bullpen game coming in Game 6 as well. There’s that part of it.”
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