After benches cleared Friday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins played the remaining two games in their series at Dodger Stadium without issue. There was the Marlins’ attempt at a suicide squeeze with a 7-0 lead on Saturday, though the Dodgers did not seek retribution.
While Marlins manager Don Mattingly took umbrage with Corey Seager swinging on a 3-0 count with a five-run lead, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts maintained his stance it perfectly acceptable.
“To have Corey swing, 3-0, was my decision. I had no idea that [Mattingly] took offense to it,” Roberts explained. “There’s things in baseball, unwritten rules and how you play the game.
“If the tables were turned, I wouldn’t have any problem with those guys swinging 3-0 in the seventh inning. That next half-inning they had first and second base with nobody out. That game could’ve changed with winning and also coming into play is bullpen usage.”
Seager’s plate appearance ended in a two-out walk. The frustration with his swing seemingly set the stage for Brett Eibner being hit after Cody Bellinger’s home run.
“Everyone interprets unwritten rules a different way,” Roberts went on to add. “The way we feel in our clubhouse, I felt it was fine for Corey to swing 3-0. It’s the unwritten. Open to different interpretations.”
Roberts also mentioned he gave the take sign when Austin Barnes had the same count in the eighth inning. And the second-year manager pointed to his team’s near comeback from a 10-0 deficit against the Colorado Rockies as an example of needing to be cautious when contemplating letting off the gas.
Los Angeles took three of four games from Miami.
