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NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 4, 2018

Dave Roberts

Los Angeles, California - postgame 1

Los Angeles - 6, Atlanta - 0

Q. Dave, we dissected the Ryu-Kershaw decision an awful lot, and he goes out and pitches like that. What did he do well? What did you think about your decision in hindsight now?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, I think the last part of that is pretty -- I don't think I need to answer that. I think we feel pretty good about it. He pitched well. He pitched well. He had command to both sides of the plate, command at the secondary. He was in control. There was a lot of soft contact. He was doing what he wanted to do, missing bats, the no-walk, and really competed well. It was good to see, and we needed that one.

Q. Dave, you tend to stick with guys who have a track record, and Max didn't have much of a track record coming in. But when he had that slump in the summertime, you continued to stick with him and believe in him. Why?
DAVE ROBERTS: Every hitter is going to go through a time when they're not seeing the baseball well, and Max, it was probably about two weeks. But after that -- you know, before that, after that, he's been very good in the strike zone. He's had a tremendous season. And so for us, that's an easy one. You just gotta kind of -- at that point in time, I think we just gave him a couple of days off here and there to kind of clear his mind. But his just DNA to be able to stay in the strike zone is pretty special, pretty unique, and so yeah, to see him in this moment, not surprised.

Q. Dave, aside from just being healthy now with Hyun-Jin, is there a way that you kind of see him evolve where he's not just back to his previous form, but he's sort of even more effective?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, I think the health is the No. 1 component, and even going into last -- this past winter, he had a regular offseason where he could prepare for Spring Training, and he showed that when he started the season, he came out throwing well. And obviously the injury to the groin in the middle of the season, but working his way back, being in great shape. And he picked up where he left off. So we were counting on him this year, and he's done everything we had hoped.

Q. Dave, you guys were so impressive in so many areas tonight. What kind of statement does this make about where you guys are at right now?
DAVE ROBERTS: I mean we said it. We're playing really good baseball. All of September, I think we've kind of come together -- offensively, defensively, starting pitching, the pen -- and this is when you want to play your best baseball. We have a lot of good players. We've got -- we're healthy, and this is a very focused and determined group.

Q. Dave, through so much of September you pretty much relied on platoon lineups and be able to swap guys out mid-game. The last two games, Game 163 and tonight, you were able to have a platoon lineup start the game but you stuck with them throughout the entire game. What does it show that the offense was able to produce the way it does even when you sort of left that original lineup in.
DAVE ROBERTS: It says a lot about these guys, so yeah, we've gotta get the other guys involved somehow. We're going to see three right-handers in a row, but to get David Freese in there tonight, to have that situational bat, that was good to see. But yeah, we have guys on the bench that can hit righties, but I like our left-handed lineup. So the challenge is to get these guys involved. But I like where each position player is at mentally right now preparing for a game.

Q. When you talk about Max's pitch recognition and discipline, how much of that is a gift? How much of that is preparation through video and how much of it is just trusting the guys behind him in case something does happen?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think it's a combination, but I think most of it probably is just his innate ability to recognize a strike versus ball, and the value of not making an out. And it's not -- we talk about not making outs, not trying to walk. We walked a good amount tonight, eight times, I think. But just understanding the value of not making an out. I think that he understands that, and his ability to see the ball out of the hand is pretty special.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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