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MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS RED SOX

October 25, 2018

Dave Roberts

Los Angeles, California - Workout Day

Q. Looking back, there was a lot of pressure, obviously, back in the ALCS Game 7. How does down this pressure compare? Is it similar, different, not at all?
DAVE ROBERTS: Understanding and appreciating that it's the World Series, it's still not a do or die like Game 7, it was a do-or-die situation. So I know that even just getting back home feels different. It's going to be exciting tomorrow. It's going to be energetic.

So a little different but the key is we've still got to go out there and play a good baseball game.

Q. The Cardinals team you faced in '04 with the Red Sox, they talked about how that series was over in a blink of an eye; they couldn't catch their breath because of the momentum the Red Sox had. I wonder as a player how you saw that go, and now on the other side of it, how do you stop it?
DAVE ROBERTS: As a player in 2004 we definitely felt that. And it began in the ALCS, and there was just a momentum and a feeling. And guys are playing well. So it just didn't really matter who we were playing, where we were playing. We were just all kind of synced up.

Right now on the other side as far as manager and being down 2-0, I think tomorrow obviously is an important game. We're at home to stop the momentum. I think that they got some big hits when they needed them. But to compare those two Red Sox teams at that point, offensively I think that we were really swinging the bats one through nine then, as I can recall.

But for us right now, it's a game that we really need to win.

Q. Another '04 tie-in, you know firsthand being down 2-0 guarantee anything. Does that inject you with any confidence and do you share that with players at all?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think it's something where I have lived it and experienced being down in that situation and still coming back. And I think the big takeaway is you can't win four games in one night. So just the focus-on-one-game-at-a-time mentality. I know it's easier said than done. But that's as simply as you can put it, and that's the best way to go about it. And I know that's echoed in our clubhouse.

Q. What did Walker show you specifically in Game 7 of the NLCS, if anything, that he hadn't before?
DAVE ROBERTS: In a situation where you take a young player in an elimination game, where he's had certain obstacles or challenges or big games that he's pitched this year and different markers and he's responded, but up until this point that was the biggest one. To be in a hostile, really boisterous crowd in Milwaukee and for him to keep his composure and to execute pitches speaks a lot to him, not only to compete but to eliminate kind of the outside noise and still stay within a game plan.

So it just shows a lot of moxie.

Q. What kind of lift do you think Eovaldi has given the Red Sox out of the bullpen this series? And are you kind of curious how Alex is going to use him the rest of the series?
DAVE ROBERTS: It's going to be interesting how he's used the rest of the series. But as far as a guy that's got such a big arm and can pitch in a setup role and get the ball to Kimbrel, obviously that's big because any type of momentum that you want to gain, with potentially a lesser arm as far as stuff, using Eovaldi obviously makes our task a little bit tougher.

Q. Hill is going Game 4, right?
DAVE ROBERTS: Correct.

Q. And how would you compare and contrast the qualities of your righty lineup versus your lefty lineup?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think we have to look at it more micro. It was a different roster before the trade deadline. And so I think that if you look at the entirety of the season, the lefty, essentially the lineup against right-handed pitching has fared much better. But if you look at the more recency, I think it's very comparable.

So against left-handed pitching I think I recall in September we led the National League in production and however you want to classify that in the National League. So that's a bigger sample of more recency.

Yesterday we ran into a guy that threw the ball well. I thought David, he has a lot of confidence and we were kind of putting some hits together that one inning, but he bounced back and made pitches and got them like 90 pitches. I thought our approach against Sale, I think to get him out after four-plus is a really good thing.

We're not swinging the bats as far as the right-handers right now against the lefty lineup. Tomorrow you'll see a different lineup. But it's a fair comp to both the left-handers and right-handed lineup with the recency.

Q. Going to the quality of at-bats, I wonder, your last 16 hitters went down last night. Credit to the Red Sox bullpen. Are you seeing some things in your hitters, especially during that stretch, where maybe some frustration is creeping in? Are guys squeezing the bat handle too tight? What was your take on that?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think there's a little bit -- it's a combo. I would say that looking back at the game and the video, just Joe Kelly in particular was making really good pitches. And then you've got two innings of a pen of Kimbrel and two innings of Eovaldi. So you've got stuff. You've got being down. You've got unfamiliarity. So there's a lot of things that lead into why we aren't getting hits against those guys.

So I do think that the more you see a guy, the better opportunity you get. But it's not from lack of preparation, but until you get in the batter's box and see how a change moves, or a slider, how much depth the curveball has and the arm slot, it's different.

Our guys are gathering information. We've got to do our best to get on the starter tomorrow. We expect Walker to go out there and pitch well and keep us in the game, and offensively we've got to go out there and get a lead.

Q. Other than lack of a DH, is there a difference for you guys playing at Dodger Stadium than playing at Fenway?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, obviously the DH is one thing. I think the climate is a little different. There's a familiarity, obviously, for us. There's been a lot of talk of outfield depth; we're very familiar with the ballpark. And the National League game, having Walker take an at-bat, where Rick can handle the bat.

But it's the style. Obviously this is what we're used to. But, again, baseball is baseball. You've still got to go out there and pitch it, catch it and hit it. And we've got to do that better than them.

Q. Before Brian led off in back-to-back games to start the series, that had been a rotating spot. Who do you have leading off tomorrow? And what do you look off specifically for your leadoff hitter?
DAVE ROBERTS: Joc will lead off tomorrow. Just got to get on base. I just felt that Dozier with the history with the two pitchers that we faced prior, I liked him setting up in Fenway Park with the short porch in left. And I just trust that he can go out there and give you a good at-bat.

So tomorrow Joc, against the right-handed pitcher, Joc is at the top of the order quite a bit for us, so that's what we're going to do tomorrow.

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