NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS VS DODGERS

October 9, 2021

Dave Roberts

Oracle Park

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Los Angeles Dodgers - 9, San Francisco Giants - 2.

Q. You talked about last night not making the adjustments. It looked like your team did that and more would you say today?

DAVE ROBERTS: We did. We did. Yeah, I mean, I just thought that we gave ourselves a chance tonight. Not afraid to get into counts and grind Gausman, and like we talked about earlier, use the whole field. Even guys that didn't get hits I think all through out the lineup, Chris Taylor, Trea Turner, everyone. AJ Pollock had a big night. So just up and down the lineup it was a well played baseball game. Will Smith.

Q. Why does something like that happen? It's not like as simple as you just tell them to have better at-bats. Curious, though, like the approach was notably better tonight, it seemed.

DAVE ROBERTS: You know, yeah, that's a fair question. I don't know the answer. I wish I knew it in about the third inning last night. I just felt that, obviously Logan threw the baseball well last night, and we didn't make any adjustments.

And it was really good to see us tonight kind of having some history with Gausman, but he's still an elite pitcher and getting him up, getting him on the plate, using the whole field. So hopefully that's something that understanding that that process, that mindset, paid dividends and we can continue that through the rest of the series.

Q. Julio yesterday spoke just about this immense focus he planned to have going into this. And after the second inning he just hardly seemed fazed and then you guys also continued to add on late. I mean, how important were both of those things?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was important. I thought there was a moment right there, that lead-off walk to Flores and they scored a run that inning, I thought he kept his composure, regained himself. For me, that's just growth, being able to limit damage. I just felt that, obviously there was some really good defensive plays, in particular Trea Turner, and late the Mookie play getting Flores at third base.

You look at the five innings, I thought that those guys grinded at-bats. It was sort of a stressful kind of work-intensive outing for Julio and you got to kind of disregard the pitch count. So I felt he did his job for the night, and giving it to the pen who did a fantastic job.

But I think it's growth and experience where Julio's really done a good job of kind of focusing his energy into just making pitches.

Q. You just mentioned the throw that Betts made. As athletic as that play was, do those plays still surprise you at all or does that kind of feel par for the course, given what he's shown?

DAVE ROBERTS: That's just a feel play. That's a bat off of a breaking ball, full swing into the bat. Crawford, as an outfielder, you see the whole swing, so you have to hesitate and he might have broke back and didn't get the best read. But to kind of regroup, still finish a play, and keep his head up, that was a big out because that was Joe's last hitter. So to be able to start that inning fresh with a new reliever, that was big.

Q. You talked about using the whole field, a big part of the field. Cody Bellinger did that with his double. What did you see from him there and what could that maybe do for him mentally just such a good at-bat for him right there?

DAVE ROBERTS: For mentally, I don't see how it could hurt. It can only be up side. He's just, he's, he wanted to use the big part of the field and for him to get rewarded, it was a huge hit. I think there was a big weight lifted off his shoulders. But that was a big couple runs and so hopefully, like our entire offense, we can take that momentum and take it to Game 3.

Q. You mentioned the pitch count for Julio. It wasn't really high. What is his availability now? Could you use him out of the pen Game 4? Is he an option a live option to start Game 5, what's his availability going forward in this series?

DAVE ROBERTS: He's, I think that I like to take things day by day, but to the question, he'll be alive later in the series, I'm sure, yeah.

Q. For Cody and AJ Pollock who struggled against Webb and Gausman was it just a matter of getting a new look when Leone came in there for those guys to break out of that and who are you going to start at first base against Wood in Game 3?

DAVE ROBERTS: Oh, Wood's starting Game 3.

Q. Yeah.

DAVE ROBERTS: That's good to know. All right. Okay, that's helpful. Let me think about that one. Well, I think they both struggled against Webb. I thought Cody took a really good swing against Gausman, that double the other way. I just think that AJ, that first at-bat to get the walk, and I know it was only two pitches, but to kind of see a couple pitches, to pitch to Julio, and Julio gets, obviously, the big hit tonight, he just got back to himself. And you saw that block base hit late, looking soft right there and stayed on a slider for a big two-out or, you know, drove in a couple runs right there. So it's just kind of playing the game and I thought tonight both guys stayed short when they needed to and competed.

Q. Obviously short series coming in, but can you explain how you feel now going back to Dodger Stadium, knowing it's a best of three with two at home and Scherzer?

DAVE ROBERTS: That's a good feeling. It's interesting how the narrative changes from game to game and right now, like you said, it's a three-game series, we have home field advantage and we've got Max on the mound. So I like where we're at.

Q. What did Mookie's throw do for your dugout?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was -- every out in the postseason is big and right there there's just an exponential affect of getting another guy in there. It was a big out, it was, because I think the Giants or I know the Giants, they play with a lot of, they take the momentum and it sort of builds. So when you can kind of take the wind out of their sail on a play like that it just kind of resets things and so that was a big play.