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MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS RED SOX

October 23, 2018

Dave Roberts

Boston, Massachusetts - postgame 1

Dodgers - 4 Red Sox - 8

Q. So Clayton was hit hard early in the first inning. How would you sum up what he went through tonight in his performance?
DAVE ROBERTS: I don't think he had the fastball command that he typically does, missing up in the zone. I don't think his slider had the depth that we're used to seeing. And those guys, to their credit, they put some good at-bats on him. And we didn't play the defense that we typically do. I thought we left some outs out there. And it didn't make Clayton's job any easier.

Q. Do you see the series kind of playing out the way it did today with all the pitching changes and using the pinch-hitters, and both teams using their benches as extensively as they did?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, you look at both rosters, there's a lot of depth, and you look at the position players on both sides, grinding at-bats, and both teams have the ability to work pitch counts and get pitch counts higher, so you're going to have to go to the pen and play matchups, and that's kind of how I saw it, we saw it.

But they got the big hit when they needed it.

Q. How satisfied were you with the at-bats against Sale, getting him out when you did, and specifically Matt ending that eight-pitch at-bat with a home run?
DAVE ROBERTS: I thought offensively we had a great game plan, and to get Sale's pitch count up and get him out of there to get to their pen, I thought we did a great job offensively, we really did. It was just for me the defense, uncharacteristic tonight from our club. And I don't think the pitching line is reflective of the way the guys threw. To beat a club like that, you've got to play a cleaner game defensively.

Q. Can you talk the Red Sox offense tonight?
DAVE ROBERTS: Obviously they're a dangerous offense, especially when you give them extra outs. J.D. got a pitch with two outs, mistake, back-door cutter that got too much of the plate, and drove in a run with two outs. And then the Devers ball with two outs again, drives in a run. And obviously the NuÃ±ez ball that was down below. It was a breaking ball, back foot, pretty much got there, it was a ball. But he kept a really good swing on it and kept it fair. Those plays right there seem to be the difference in the game.

But again I thought we pitched them okay, but that's a good offense over there.

Q. Baez had a couple of good-looking strikeouts, did you just want to avoid Devers going to Wood?
DAVE ROBERTS: We talked about it with Petey throwing the ball well right there. But Devers is really good against the right-hander, and to get a guy off the bench and NuÃ±ez, I really liked Alex in that spot, I did.

Whether they were going to hit Devers with a lead or go to the bench and go with NuÃ±ez, I still liked Alex in that spot.

Q. You had two on in the fifth inning with no outs. You let David Freese bat. What went into that decision? You had Muncy and Bellinger as well on the bench at that point.
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, at that point you have three guys on the bench and you've got to figure out who -- in the fifth inning to deplete your entire bench. I like David's at-bats. And you look at (Matt) Barnes, he's sort of neutral. He's got a good fastball. He's got a cutter that gets lefties out. So I just felt that first and second base, you've got Machado behind him and you have a chance to hit for the next guy after that. But in the fifth inning you start to hitting for guys, you're going to have nobody left in the game.

With the neutral guy and with how David is swinging the bat, I still liked him against Barnes.

Q. Did you feel like the end result overshadowed yet another resilient effort? You were down 2-0, come back, tied at 2, down 3-2, come back, tied at 3.
DAVE ROBERTS: Our guys, like you've seen all year, are going to fight. And we don't expect these guys to give us anything. So we expect it to be a hard-fought series. But the way we competed -- even at the end, to get Kimbrel in the game, to see him, to get a look at him, to see Eovaldi, I thought offensively we did a really good job. And that's what we've done all year long.

Q. When Clayton came out for the fifth, was that a matter of you were going to let him go until he got in trouble or was there something during that walk that you saw that it was time?
DAVE ROBERTS: I thought that right where he was at, I was thinking about even before the inning about Martinez. And when the six, seven-pitch at-bat to Mookie, you walk him, and I didn't see him getting the slider where it needed to be with the depth. And so Benintendi gets the clean base hit. Now you get Pearce up there, so for me you're trying to get a punch right there. And I just felt right there that Madson had a better chance to get those righties and get a punch right there. And had a good sequence again Martinez. Didn't anticipate the four-pitch walk.

But even with that, we had a grounder that we could've gotten out of the inning fourth and Bogaerts just beat it out.

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