NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 21, 2021

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Los Angeles Dodgers - 11, Atlanta Braves - 2

Q. Just want to check in. How Joe Kelly is doing? Do you have an update on him and do you think this might keep him down for a little bit?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's a bicep strain and we're going to continue to evaluate, but that's going to be it for, just kind of the way it reads right now, that will be it for the rest of the season for him.

Q. As hard as it was watching Kelly go down like that, what is sort of the reaction after that to what the bullpen was able to do for him afterwards and especially Evan Phillips coming in in that spot right there and kind of finishing the job for him?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was great. Evan to take the baseball in that spot was getting ready a little bit prior, but just to take down that part of the lineup and get us kind of, put the fire out, let us catch our breath a little bit. But each guy that came in, I mean, I can go on and on about each guy and they were just, they were all fantastic and obviously what Brusdar did with Blake and Vesia, all the guys were just fantastic.

And I was going to get Bruihl in there but he couldn't go. So just some soreness in the arm, so couldn't get loose. So to have Kenley even take down an inning in a plus plus game, that's kind of where we were at and he was our most rested reliever. So for him to be a teammate and take down that 9th was huge and just puts us in a good spot for Game 6.

Q. Trea Turner seems to have found his swing tonight. How much did that get the dugout fired up when he got the hits?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was great. It was great. It was just nice for Trea to break out another club and hit the ball the other way and beat the shift and stay on a baseball. And when he gets on base, a lot of good things happen. So tonight, he really was working on that in batting practice today with the hitting guys and for it to see it play out like that was great.

Q. Four hits last night, 17 tonight, against their ace. How do you explain that, can you explain it?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't know how to explain it. I'm happy it happened tonight. We have a ton of respect for Max Fried, a local guy, and he's had our number. So AJ hitting the homer right there kind of gave us some life and then CT with that two-run homer, and then you follow it up with two more homers from CT, and then AJ had a huge night with the grand slam -- or the three-run homer, it's like you can't always play for slug, but those guys stepped up big and allowed us to win a baseball game.

Q. You said last night you would love the chance to go to Atlanta. How are you feeling about making that flight tomorrow?

DAVE ROBERTS: One of the happier flights I've been looking forward to. So, yeah, I'm very excited. And I'm just, honestly, it's baseball and I'm happy that we gave you guys a series. And I expected our guys to fight and scratch and claw and I thought we did that and it's going to be a crazy environment in Atlanta. We know that. I like the guys we're going to be running out there and we just got to go out there and play to win one game.

So our backs are against the wall and I don't expect a letdown, but, yeah, I'm looking forward to that flight.

Q. When you go get Kelly there in the first, you're already down two, Freed is on the mound for them, the offense hasn't been doing much, what goes through your mind as you walk back to the dugout?

DAVE ROBERTS: Going back to the dugout I'm just trying to think about how we're going to piece eight innings together and try -- eight and a third. So just trying to figure out lanes for guys, who is available, but just knowing we're going to have to figure it out. And I feel very bad for Joe because he's done so much for us and so for him to not be able to see this thing through this year is very disappointing. Same bucket as Justin, Max. But with our guys we just got to figure it out and it's not to kind of be dismissive but that's just where we're at.

Q. When you were planning the bullpen game last night how often did Evan Phillips' name come up and did he figure into it at all and then the four outs that he got were those maybe the most important four outs you've gotten in a while?

DAVE ROBERTS: Those, he was in a couple scenarios, but I don't know if he was in the A scenario right there. But Evan, I talked to our guys, and Josh Bard, we were talking, it's like there's just something about his calm and you can just tell he's intelligent, he's tough, and he's got good stuff.

So to call on him in that spot, I wasn't worried. It's just not how we expected to play out, but in baseball you've got to be able to read and react, and Evan stepped up and made us all look good.

Q. Seven straight wins in elimination games. What is it about this group and their ability to win these kind of games?

DAVE ROBERTS: I guess when our backs are against the wall we play our best and fight, but that's just not an ideal spot to be in, even right now, elimination game on Game 6, but I guess it brings out the best in us.

Q. You've seen a lot of big things in the postseason. Where does three home runs by a single player kind of rank in that?

DAVE ROBERTS: Reggie hit three, right, In the World Series? I think it was against the Dodgers, wasn't it? Kiké did it. It's up there. CT, he's just that guy that, he's just in the moment. He's in the moment. He's fighting, and he can hit the flare with guys on second base with two outs with the best of them and drive in a run and he can also get the head out and hit a homer.

So him to hit three home runs, couldn't be happier, and we needed him, and just he's locked in. I was pulling for that fourth one. He wasn't going to walk.

Q. Before the game we talked about the certain guys who step up in postseason moments. Is Chris in that?

DAVE ROBERTS: He's one of them. He's one of them. The first pitch homer off Keuchel, in the World Series in 2017, the two-out hit versus Verlander was a big hit back then. You see it, he's just had big hits time and time again in big spots.

Q. Without Max, without Justin, you still got the production you got from the bottom of the lineup. How integral is that to what you're trying to accomplish and what you're trying to do to be able to go 1 through 9?

DAVE ROBERTS: Well, it's huge. It's very important. And you can look at CT, AJ, those guys are middle of the order guys and, on any team, and so where we place them to add length to our club, our offense, I expect performance out of those guys and they're very good ball players.

Q. First of all your starter for Game 6, is it Max Scherzer?

DAVE ROBERTS: Max Scherzer.

Q. Following up with that, just obviously you've had a lot of key leaders on this team, Max Scherzer being a newcomer but to be able to trust him in this Game 6, I mean, how much do you expect from him in this game and also on top of that innings-wise obviously you mentioned that he had a dead arm, what can we expect length-wise from him?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't know until we get there. I really don't. He's doing his work and preparing. Obviously he's been on the stage and to hand a ball to a guy like that you believe in and whatever he can give us we're going to have guys around him to help us win a ball game.

Q. As good a player as Chris Taylor is, as good as he's been in October, do you still have a certain sense of amazement that say Duke Snider never had a three-homer game in October for the Dodgers, Gil Hodges never did. There's a long list. Mike Piazza never did, but Chris Taylor just had that night.

DAVE ROBERTS: That's a wow. That's a wow hearing that. I don't think that he realizes that, and he's just one of the best I've seen at just being in the moment, and I think that when he's, when his career is over, he can look back and appreciate that.

But for me being a Chris Taylor fan and seeing that he's a part of history now is pretty remarkable and for us to be here to watch that in person, he just does things the right way, he really does and he's in a class, an elite class of very few. So when you're talking about Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, these guys that didn't do it, it's pretty remarkable.

Q. Phillips gives you four outs, Graterol gives you six big outs, what are your thoughts about your bullpen their response after seeing Joe go down?

DAVE ROBERTS: That group led by Josh Bard is as tight of a bullpen group as I've seen. There's a real culture, care for each other, pick each other up, and so it didn't surprise me. And I think that their hearts go out to Joe, but they wanted to kind of pick up the slack and whenever I give them the baseball they're ready to do their job and it's a fun group to watch and see kind of growth, you got the veteran guys and then you've got some younger guys that are cutting their teeth this year that we've run out there in big spots and they're showing really well.

Q. I think you guys had 11, two-strike hits tonight. Was that an area that you guys were focusing on or what did you see from the guys when they were in those spots?

DAVE ROBERTS: I saw fight. I saw fight. There was at-bats that where, in games past were ended and chase, and I just saw continuing to fight. I saw the ability and the desire to use the other side of the baseball field to keep the line moving and that's who we are when we're at our best, we can slug, as you saw some homers tonight, but those shift busters and Albert riding out a breaking ball, backdoor breaker, that was, that's stuff that really gets my juices going.

Q. If Joe Kelly can't go is David Price the corresponding move or is there some other arms you're considering?

DAVE ROBERTS: We're considering some guys, but David is obviously at the top of the list. But Joe won't be active, yeah.