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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS NATIONALS

October 9, 2016

Dave Roberts

Washington, DC - Postgame two

Nationals - 5

Dodgers - 2

Q. What was the difference in the quality of at-bats you saw with Tanner Roark, as to opposed to when they brought in the relievers?
DAVE ROBERTS: It was a little different. We had Roark on the ropes and I think it was through five innings, we left 11 guys on base. It was just that one big hit. We stressed him, and we had an opportunity to really put him away early.

You know, it's one of those things where there were some good at-bats, some hard-hit balls, the Howie Kendrick ball to left field squared up, didn't find outfield grass. You know, we had the bases loaded, so we had some opportunities, just didn't capitalize.

Afterward, they get the pen in there and then the shadows starts creeping and it gets to be a tougher visual. But like I said, I think that we had our opportunities.

Q. You had the one pitch from Hill to Lobaton that seemed to change everything?
DAVE ROBERTS: It did. It did. I thought Rich had good stuff, and the breaking ball was good, fastball, life was good. Just you look back at that inning, and he hits Espinosa with a cutter and with two outs, and then you bring Lobaton to the plate and it was just a breaking ball that he left up and he put a good swing on it.

Q. Did you have a hint that Lobaton could hit a ball that far because the Nationals probably didn't?
DAVE ROBERTS: No. You know, the wind was blowing in, and you've really got to click it to get it out. It was an elevated breaking ball, and again, he put a good swing on it.

Q. And did you have any book on breaking balls?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think that they have some history together, but with Rich, if he executes the fastball location and he gets the breaking ball down, we feel good about him, Lobaton, either swinging and missing or putting the ball on the ground.

It's one of those things, you throw 87 pitches, and he left one of them up.

Q. Not that it's an excuse, the rainout that really wasn't a rainout, did that take any momentum away?
DAVE ROBERTS: I don't think so. We came in, if you look at the first few innings, the first, we looked good, we felt good, got ahead of them.

I think it's just one of those things where the momentum shifted after that Lobaton at-bat.

Q. How challenging is it to get Daniel Murphy out this time of year, seeing the same kind of thing two years in a row now?
DAVE ROBERTS: It is. It is. It's a challenge. You know, he has a way of -- what he always does is he puts an at-bat together. You know, especially in the post-season, he really doesn't go out of the zone. He really stays in the strike zone and finds a way to use the whole field. And left on left, right on left, it really doesn't matter for Murphy.

You know, in situations you want to not let him beat you, but in the first -- his first RBI with Rich, first and third base, two outs, I still want to take my chances on our left-hander. He put a good at-bat together. He took a 1-2 pitch that was close and found a way to hit a breaking ball to center field.

He's definitely calm under pressure, so we have to do a better job trying to get him out.

Q. Less than 24 hours from now you have to fly across country and face a left-hander. What state of mind are your guys in? What's the sense in the clubhouse after the game?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think that we're good. No one said it was going to be easy. You know, Kenta will be ready to go, and you'll see a couple different guys in the lineup for us.

But I think that, you know, how we fared against left-handed pitching, I don't really think that guys are too concerned about the history. I think that we are looking forward to this one game, Game 3, and we've got some history with Gio. So he's going to have to make pitches to beat us.

Q. I was going to ask about that history with Gio. I think he pitched eight shutout innings against you the previous year, six this year, but not a lot against you. Have you picked up anything or seen anything that you need to do better?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think we'll have a good plan. I know that we'll have a good plan. I think it comes down to us executing our plan and Gio doing the same thing.

If he makes mistakes, we're going to try to put at-bats together, create some stress, and if we do that, then I think we'll be in good shape.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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