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MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS RED SOX

October 24, 2018

Dave Roberts

Boston, Massachusetts - postgame 2

Dodgers - 2 Red Sox - 4

Q. You've managed to scratch a couple of runs against Price, and then the bats really went dead from there. What were you seeing as far as the plate appearances went?
DAVE ROBERTS: I thought the compete was there. You've got to give credit to Price. He made pitches when he needed to. We had him, we had him on the ropes. I thought that early on we stressed him. We had some situational at-bats, got some baserunners, took our walks. And the difference is they got the big hit when they needed and we didn't.

Q. In the fifth inning there where you pulled Ryu, I know Madson has kind of been that guy for you coming in those situations. Given how much he's been used and what happened yesterday, did you consider any alternatives, like Baez? Could you take me through why you decided to go with Madson.
DAVE ROBERTS: Madson has been our guy for quite some time, and he's pitched out of big spots there. The usage right there, I'm not worried about that. He's fresh. He pitched yesterday, didn't throw too many pitches. Had a couple of days off coming into the series, has an off-day tomorrow. So that part of it was pretty easy. And I just felt I really liked him against Pearce. In that spot he's done it time and time again for us, but the last couple of nights it hasn't worked out.

The walk, very uncharacteristic, and he gave a flare single to Martinez.

Q. In retrospect do you think the outfield was too deep on Martinez on the flare? And what was going on with the ball boys? It looked like they were giving him a defensive chart during the pitching change?
DAVE ROBERTS: I'm not aware of the ball boy giving whatever he was delivering.

But I think with the Martinez ball, even if he was in, it's going to drop in. It's two out, they're running on contact. And you've got to still respect J.D.'s power. But I thought it was an executed pitch that he just got enough of it to muscle it out to the outfield. I don't think the outfield depth really played a factor in that.

Q. The club has been in this kind of situation before throughout the season. You win a few, you drop a few. This just happens to be the World Series. Leaving Boston, what's the mentality and how do you approach the next games, which you obviously have to win?
DAVE ROBERTS: We do. We do. We've got to find a way to win a baseball game. I think coming in here I thought we played these guys pretty straight up. Obviously we come out of here going home down 2-0. But they made pitches when they needed to. And when we stressed them, they made the pitch. And then when it flipped, they got the hit, and we didn't. And that's kind of the difference in tonight's game.

But I think as far as ballclub, talent, you can kind of look at the pitching, the offense. We're not swinging the bats well right now. That's obvious. But I think getting home, seeing their guys in the pen, I think we'll be ready for Game 3.

Q. Knowing how proficient they are with two outs, did you consider giving Ryu a quicker hook after he gave up that single to Vazquez?
DAVE ROBERTS: No, no, I didn't. He had Vazquez 1-2, gives up a base hit on a backdoor cutter, I think. And with Mookie right there, gives up a ground-ball base hit. And I thought he was in control the entire night. I thought he was executing. Benintendi put a good at-bat on him and earned a walk. But for me right there I have a decision to make to give Ryu a chance to get out of that spot and face Pearce or go with a guy that I know matches up really well, hasn't seen much of him, saw him the night prior.

But I just felt again Madson was the right guy to get us out of that. And that was the difference in the game right there. And you talk about things before the game happens and I just felt again Madson was the right guy in that spot.

Q. Given the circumstances, and as you mentioned the offensive struggling a little bit, is there any thought about shuffling the lineup or mixing it up, especially at the top, to kind of generate some offense?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, Game 3 it's going to be a different lineup. I assume we're going to see Porcello, so it will be different right there. But as far as at the top, Justin Turner has been at the top, second or third, all year long. There's no reason to move him. And I think Brian Dozier against a lefty, these first two games, I thought his at-bat quality was pretty good. And so now you're looking at Manny, who I think has had some good at-bats. And David Freese in the 3, I think he's probably had our best at-bats top to bottom in these first two games.

But we're going to shuffle it up for Game 3, but it's not because of necessarily performance, it's kind of who the starting pitcher for those guys is. But these are the guys that got us here, and we're going to ride them out.

Q. Because the games aren't part of the long season anymore and at a premium, and Madson had a bad night last night, did you think about getting anybody hot behind him, so when he had an uncharacteristic walk, you would have an option if you didn't like what you were seeing from the next batter?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think to get a guy that has pitched in four World Series and has performed all postseason for us, to have a bad night prior, to then have someone behind him, another right-hander, almost protecting yourself against him not being able to throw a strike, he shouldn't be in the game anyway. So when you've got a couple of right-handers that he's going to face, you feel confident that he can go out there and get those guys. So if I had any thought to have Baez or somebody behind him, then he was the wrong guy.

Q. In any way do the Red Sox remind you of what Houston was able to do last year in terms of their lineup, just being able to string together quality at-bats? What is the biggest challenge that you've seen from the Red Sox these two games?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, it's a good lineup. It's a good lineup. But I'm not going to make too much into two games in the sense that the difference is they got a big hit when they needed. And I think that we've had opportunities to do the same thing, we've done the same thing. We didn't get the hits that they got but we had baserunners. And the difference is they got a couple of hits with runners in scoring position and we didn't, and now we're down 0-2.

But it's a good offensive club. They've been a good offensive club all year. Last year Houston, this year Houston the same thing. They're both very comparable as far as very offensive, yeah.

Q. It's hard not to notice when you have the first two games of a World Series and your top four home run hitters, because of the matchups, start off on the bench. I know that you were asked this before the game, now the game has played out, did you see what you wanted to from the right-handers?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, David Freese, I think he's done everything that we've asked of him. I think Brian Dozier, the quality has been there. I don't think the results. He's got a couple of walks in these first two games. This is two games and obviously it's magnified, it's the World Series, but it's still two separate baseball games. I think that Taylor and Hernandez didn't swing the bat well these two games. I think CT has had a really good postseason.

But, yeah, it's hard to have guys that slug like Pederson, Muncy, Bellinger on the bench, but this is something that we've done a lot in September and throughout the postseason and it's proved to be successful. And those guys are still getting in games and staying current. But, again, when guys are in there, they've just got to be productive. So we've got a lot of good players and we've got a long way to go.

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