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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS NATIONALS

October 11, 2016

Dave Roberts

Los Angeles, California - Postgame 4

Dodgers - 6

Nationals - 5

Q. What message would you give to somebody who gives up on this team?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, if anyone gives up on this team, they haven't seen us play a whole lot this year, and it starts with what Clayton did -- short rest and leaving it all out there. You know, everyone fed off that.

And obviously with the Adrian homer and a lot of at-bats, and obviously Andre coming off the bench, getting that big hit right there and obviously with Chase, it just epitomized our ballclub.

Q. Can you walk us through the seventh inning and why send Kershaw back out there in the seventh and why remove him when you did?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, I think that right there with Kersh, at that point in time, pitch count, throwing the ball really well, and you know, where our pen was at in that state, he's our best option. And for me, I like the way he was throwing the baseball, and when I went back out there, I wanted him to get Harper.

And so there was an ambush Espinosa base hit, and he got the groundball infield hit from Turner. And so then from me, you look at who we have, and I think that Clayton is our best option. And it was a great battle between those two guys.

At that point in time, I wanted to get the right-hander on Werth.

Q. Going back to the off-season, from outside the organization, it looked like Chase Utley was done, he's not coming back. And then you make the decision last week to bring Andre Either on the playoff roster, two veteran guys, back-to-back, certainly it paid off today?
DAVE ROBERTS: It did. And that's the one thing, with obviously Chase, he's risen to many occasions and rises to the moment.

As bad as his at-bats might have been earlier in the game, you know what, he just doesn't scare off and he keeps competing. So I'll take my chance with Chase any time.

And with Andre, you know, for me, the small sample in September meant nothing. It was more the at-bat quality, and that's what I told him from the beginning. And I knew he was going to play a pivotal role in each of these series.

Q. Do you have any clarity on the Game 5 pitching situation?
DAVE ROBERTS: No. You know what, we didn't use Julio, so it's going to be a collection of arms. You know, I think that we talked about Rich as an option, obviously. But so is Julio and how we want to strategize to win Game 5, we're going to talk through it. But it's nice now that we didn't have to go to Julio, so he's certainly an option.

We've got some guys in the pen that didn't pitch tonight, today. So we've got some good options.

Q. In that case, how much does the off-day help, and is it fair to say that we could see both Rich and Julio in Game 5?
DAVE ROBERTS: That's fair. That's fair. I think the off-day is huge for us, just to reset for Game 5, and also, just to kind of get our guys in the pen to reset and get back to -- you know, recover from that off-day, yeah.

Q. The whacky ebb and flow, once again, of this game, really encapsulated the entire season, and they were prepared, as you said yesterday; this team is prepared for these moments, and they will be prepared Thursday in their house.
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, that goes without saying that they will be prepared. But us playing on the road to win one game, and I like our guys. I think that we've been up against some adversities this year, but even when they came back and scored the three runs to tie it, there was no quit in us. You know, just guys having big at-bats.

Q. When you're making the decision to go with Kershaw in this game, is the thought at least partly that without a victory in Game 4, Game 5 doesn't exist, so all the marbles are in this one?
DAVE ROBERTS: That was a thought. You can never go wrong with putting the baseball in his hands. But the state of our pen after yesterday played a factor, as well, and trusting Clayton giving us a very good chance to win the game today, and also going deep into another game played a factor, as well.

Q. Puig on that third strike, what if the umpire possibly could have said that he was perhaps right?
DAVE ROBERTS: No, you know, Tom said he saw it. He said he saw it well. And so he didn't need to ask for help right there.

Obviously we saw it differently. So that was it.

Q. Talk about Andre Ethier's hit today, just as he's done often as a pinch-hitter coming through in a situation that for most of his career he didn't play, he was a regular and he's been a pretty good pinch-hitter for you here?
DAVE ROBERTS: He's been a great pinch hitter, and the stuff that he does on the bench that doesn't go seen is huge. But I think it's just understanding where he's at as far as his role on this club this year.

You know, he's got a peace about it and he prepares like no one else. And so, you know, regardless of the result, I know he's going to be prepared. And what he does each day, whether it be shagging balls for two groups or the batting practice or T-work, that's a lot of things that he brings to your club.

Q. What does it say about Kenley Jansen, the way he bounced back today?
DAVE ROBERTS: You know what, Kenley, it was one of those things that you can't be perfect every day. But his resiliency to come back after yesterday and to have that short memory that the great closers have to have, no surprise, and he rised to the moment.

Q. Kershaw just said that the game mentally exhausted him. Do you feel that same way?
DAVE ROBERTS: I do. I do. And you know, you just -- yeah. And that's the thing, is every time he takes the mound, it's one of those things. And that's one of the challenges that we talk about in our clubhouse, is after any game, whether it be a playoff game or a regular-season game, you should be not only physically, but mentally exhausted.

And the thing is, his conviction, his preparation, all leads to an outing, each outing. And for Clayton to leave every bit of himself out there speaks to, that's why he's great. That's why he's the best pitcher on the planet.

I'm a little spent myself, so the off-day is going to do not only our bullpen some good, but it will do me some good, too.

Q. So much of the series up till now had sort of circled around their left-handed relievers against your left-hand hitters or creating those match-ups. At any time in the bottom of the eighth there, as you're starting to stack lefties, were you thinking in the back of your head, all right, when are they coming, when are they coming?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, I knew that Solis was used a lot yesterday. And for me, just kind of understanding that the guys that they had left in their pen were right-handed, Treinen, Melancon and Shawn Kelley that were not used a ton. So there's that balance of deploying all your right-handed bats to then leave your right-handers in the game, or kind of playing the cat and mouse matchup game and picking your spots.

But yeah, I think that we were fortunate that in some of the matchups worked out well for us.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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