NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS VS DODGERS

October 14, 2024

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Mets - 7, Dodgers - 3

Q. Just what was missing with Landon today in that second inning?

DAVE ROBERTS: I just felt today he wasn't sharp overall, specifically the secondary. I thought in that second inning there was a bad walk in there to Alvarez. You get Taylor 0-2, and you hang a breaking ball for the double.

And then right there, you know we had an opportunity to minimize damage, and you get count leverage, you've got Vientos 1-2, and then he gets it to 3-2 and then you make a mistake with your heater. And that was a big hit, clearly.

Q. Was that the plan to always go to him earlier?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, it was the plan to go to him and take down the most outs today.

Q. When that inning starts going off the rails a little bit, do you consider going to one of the higher leverage guys at that point? Or how things were set up today were you trying to save them a little bit until later in the game?

DAVE ROBERTS: I really wasn't. I think in that situation you still have to be able to finish the game. You're talking about the second inning right there. So you have a guy on the mound that has to eat up innings. Yeah, you go to anyone else, we're not going to be able to finish the game.

I think as far as kind of where we're at, it never feels good losing. But to feel you've got your leverage guys ready to go for the next three games, I feel really good about that.

So it was as least costly as it could be because of what Honeywell did, Banda, Henriquez did. So that was certainly helpful. And offensively we've got a chance to see their guys, their leverage guys and force some up-downs. And I think that was beneficial too.

Q. That game against the Padres you guys went high leverage guy after high leverage guy and saved Knack there for the end. What was different for this match-up or this particular game that you guys decided to go with Knack?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think today what was different was we don't have Vesia. Hudson was down. And that's probably the biggest kind of impetus for having -- or knowing you're going to have to take some outs from Knack or you just are not going to finish the game.

Q. What did you see from Honeywell. And what role can he play in the series?

DAVE ROBERTS: He did exactly what we needed. He allowed us to kind of chew up some innings, keep us in the ball game. He's just kind of a guy that we trust, so to be able to get left and right out.

Those are innings that a guy like that gives us that gives the best chance to win the following, ensuing game. It's not lost on anyone in that clubhouse what Honey did for us and Henriquez as well.

Q. Given I know you said you have all your high-leverage guys available for the next game, but you have a day off tomorrow. You had a day off two days ago. You mostly had a bullpen day off yesterday. Why would you not go to those guys first knowing this is October and this is the time to step up?

DAVE ROBERTS: You just can't -- Knack was going to have to pitch at some point in time. So whether you get through, you have four high-leverage guys available, right. You have to be able to kind of still finish four innings of a game or three innings of a game. So you've got to be able to get into the game at some point, too.

Again, we don't have Vesia. Hudson was down. You've got to get out somehow.

Q. Then if you do need to run another bullpen game in Game 6 would it be similar to today or did you learn anything that might inform?

DAVE ROBERTS: Honestly, I have no idea. Right now, just trying to process today, make sure that we learn from some of the things that we've got to get better at. And then we have Walker going tomorrow with a fresh, leveragey pen and focus on winning Game 3.

Q. What did you see from Ohtani tonight?

DAVE ROBERTS: I thought he didn't look comfortable versus Manaea. The heater is away. You can see he was just kind of trying to keep the ball away from Shohei.

That's what they're going to do. Shohei is very good with the ball close to him. So they're just going to stay away, hard away. If it's spin, it's going to be away.

Just didn't feel comfortable. And then after that I thought the righties that came in, they weren't about to give into him. And at least he took his walks.

Q. Given the fact that he's 0-for 19 now with the bases empty, you have to have some guys on base to have to challenge him a little bit more, any thought to moving him down the order?

DAVE ROBERTS: Not really. I think that, as far as on the offensive side, I think we've been pretty good offensively. I think the guys at the bottom have been doing a nice job of getting on base.

And as far as moving him down, I just don't want to be too reactive. I don't really see the benefit. We've got to just make sure that our guys are just still swinging the bat well. And quite frankly, I want Shohei to get five at-bats a game. I think he's our best hitter, and I want him up there five times.

Q. Is Gavin Lux okay? Was he healthy enough to play? Did the situation not present itself?

DAVE ROBERTS: He was not healthy enough to start, to run, to play defense. I had him ready for that DS spot in the eighth if I thought it was leverage enough for him to hit. Once they scored the extra run in the top half of the ninth, I just felt that I'm not going to risk putting Gavin in a little bit more harm's way. And so I thought Pages was the best option in that moment.

Q. The bullpen game works so well, Game 4 of the DS. Does today demonstrate to you the difficulty of what you're trying to accomplish, the low margin for error?

DAVE ROBERTS: It absolutely does. It all is great when it works well and guys are throwing up zeros, but you're still facing really good ball clubs. And there is a margin that you have to guard against and kind of really appreciate the cost of the next games, and not forgetting that this isn't a winner-take-all game. It's not a three-game series.

Those are things I have to be mindful of -- leverage, plus, minus.

But I think that you're right, when you're on the margins and you lose a couple guys and guys aren't available, you've got to figure out how to get out somehow.

Q. Was Hudson down just because of rest?

DAVE ROBERTS: He just had some things that he couldn't pitch today.

Q. Anything concerning moving forward?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't think so. He should be, with two days, he should be ready to go for Game 3.