	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DODGERS VS CUBS

October 19, 2016

Dave Roberts

Los Angeles, California - Postgame 4

Cubs - 10, Dodgers - 2

Q. It looked like Julio had really good stuff in the early going. How much did that bunt sort of get him out of his game?
DAVE ROBERTS: You know what? Actually, yeah, I thought he had really good stuff. Just that inning got away from us, but it was just the bunt base hit and a couple flares. For me, the way he was throwing the baseball, he got ahead 0-2, and then left another pitch, the flare, then he gives up another base hit to Contreras. So it's one of those things where I thought Julio was throwing the baseball well. And you know, you get to a spot where I think the stuff is really good, and he's a victim of some plays we didn't make for him. He got Russell to fly out weakly in his first at-bat, so I just felt that you've got to give Julio an opportunity to make pitches and left a 2-0 fastball up out over.

Q. How surprised were you that that replay wasn't overturned? And how big of a shift do you think that is? It would have been the first run of the game.
DAVE ROBERTS: You know what? I was pretty certain that it was going to get reversed. But those guys in New York, they've got a job to do, and obviously they saw it the other way.

Q. Following up on that, Dave, from a standpoint of momentum and the way we know that it can turn a game, do you look back at this game as a game that could have been very different if Adrian is safe, or one that ultimately was the eight-run game it ended up being?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I'm a big believer in momentum and certain plays. You look back tonight and some plays shifted the momentum. To get a lead would have been big for us, and I thought we put ourselves in a position to get to Lackey. But he escaped. You know, credit to those guys that once we kept him in the ballgame, they got the hits when they needed.

Q. Turner getting picked off in the first inning and four errors tonight. I know some were overthrows. But was it disappointing not to play a clean game out there tonight?
DAVE ROBERTS: It happens. It happens. And obviously it's more magnified in the postseason. But we haven't had a game like that in a long time. So there are a few plays that could have went a certain way or plays that we could have made that could have changed the outcome of the game, but it wasn't to be. So I think for us it's one of those things you've got to brush off and get ready for tomorrow.

Q. Obviously, losing is never easy. But the brushing off, turning the page, is it a little easier when it goes down like this as opposed to maybe a nail-biter?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think in the four games, I thought -- I mean, in the first three games I thought we played good baseball. Today, again, it just got away from us. Tomorrow we're at home, and we're expecting Kenta to go out there and throw well. And I expect for us to play a much cleaner game.

Q. Just to triple, quadruple check, nothing that happened today changed your mind about who is starting tomorrow's game?
DAVE ROBERTS: No, no. It's going to be Kenta.

Q. Along those lines, given that it worked in the Division Series, why not use that strategy again with Clayton? Short rest and maybe have him for a deciding game?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, I think that tomorrow isn't a deciding game. It's not an elimination game. And I think the accumulation of his usage over the last ten days plays a factor in our decision. So I think those are kind of the reasons why we're not going with Clayton tomorrow.

Q. Did Clayton come to you at all and express a desire to want to pitch?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, he said -- he's done what he's always done in saying that he'll do whatever we ask of him. So I think that for us thinking through it, the best thing for us is to have him pitch Game 6 and have Kenta to go tomorrow. And tomorrow, with the guys that we have at the back end of the pen, I feel really good about the position we're in.

Q. You believe in Kenta, obviously. But the last few starts have been tough. What are you going to look for from him to make sure he's on his game tomorrow?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think for Kenta, it's just about getting ahead of hitters. If he can get ahead of hitters and expand, he's really good. But I think with any pitcher, if you start working behind and hitters start smelling blood, it gets to be a little bit tougher. So Kenta's -- like I said, Kenta's pitched in a ton of big baseball games in his career, so we expect him to go out there and compete and get outs.

Q. Just looking back at Game 1 lineup against Lester, you had all your right-handed platoon guys in there, Kendrick, Puig, and Ruiz and Kike as well. Do you anticipate all four being in there tomorrow as well?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think the first three will be in there, Kike, Howie, Yasiel, and I'm going to think through the catching. But it's -- what Carlos does for us in the batter's box behind the plate, working with pitchers is outstanding. Also the value of plugging him in somewhere to match against their left-handers is huge value for us as well. So I think that I'm going to weigh those decisions and ultimately come up with a lineup.

Q. Just because of how fundamentally solid your team has played all year. Just watching the mistakes tonight, was it surprising for you?
DAVE ROBERTS: It was. It was. I think that just the things on the bases and the overthrows and catching the baseball. This is very, very uncharacteristic of our group. But like I said, over the course of 162-plus games, it's going to happen. And it hasn't happened very often with our guys. So just in that clubhouse, I think guys are going to turn the page and I'm certain we'll be ready to go tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297