ATLANTA — Dave Roberts didn’t hesitate.
asserted
Roberts → hesitate → ?
So what if Tyler Glasnow had thrown only 78 pitches?
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Glasnow → throw → pitches
Glasnow had walked his second batter of the inning, and Roberts wasn’t about to take any chances.
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Roberts → walk → chances
Calling on Alex Vesia to record the final out of the inning, Roberts initiated a chaotic sequence of events that resulted in the Dodgers claiming a 4-1 victory over the Braves in Game 4 of their National League Division Series.
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Dodgers → call → Series
The Dodgers advanced to the NL Championship Series.
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Dodgers → advance → Series
And because of David Ray Roberts, the manager affectionately known as Doc who has a game or two like this every October.
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who → know → this
On a day in which one of his four aces lasted only 4 ⅔ innings, Roberts figured out how to cover 13 outs of the game with a notoriously unpredictable bullpen.
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Roberts → last → bullpen
Roberts’ fingerprints were also all over Andy Pages’ two-run single in the seventh inning that broke open the game.
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that → break → game
When Teoscar Hernandez singled that inning with one out, Braves manager Walt Weiss replaced starting pitcher Tyler Mahle with right-hander Didier Fuentes.
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Weiss → single → Fuentes
Fuentes forced Max Muncy to ground out, but Hernandez advanced to second base on the play.
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Hernandez → force → play
Rather than have the right-handed utilityman face Fuentes, Roberts deployed rookie Josue De Paula as a pinch hitter.
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Roberts → have → hitter
The left-handed-hitting De Paula drew a walk, at which point he was replaced on the basepaths by Tommy Edman.
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he → hit → Edman
Kyle Tucker followed up with another walk to load the bases, at which point Weiss turned to fireballer Robert Suarez to pitch to Pages.
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Weiss → follow → Pages
Pages batted .078 in the postseason last year, which resulted in his benching in the World Series.
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which → bat → Series
He was 0-for-7 in the first two games of this series, but Roberts stuck with him.
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Roberts → stick → him
Roberts’ faith was rewarded by the most important hit of Pages’ three-year career, a single to right field that drove in two runs to push the Dodgers in front, 3-1.
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that → reward → front
The runs were the Dodgers’ first of the series that weren’t scored via a home run.
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that → score → run
The manager demonstrated an equal level of creativity in directing his bullpen.
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manager → demonstrate → bullpen
Vesia returned for the sixth inning, only to give up a leadoff double to Ozzie Albies.
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Vesia → return → Albies
Roberts kept the left-hander in for another batter, the left-handed-hitting Drake Baldwin, who lined out.
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who → keep → batter
Roberts’ next call to the bullpen was for Edgardo Henriquez, who spent the last two weeks of the regular season on the injured list.
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who → spend → list
Henriquez gave up a run in the Dodgers’ Game 2 loss, but not only did Roberts trust him to prevent Albies from scoring, he also had him pitch the seventh inning.
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him → give → inning
Tanner Scott pitched the eighth inning.
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Scott → pitch → inning
With Muncy homering in the ninth inning to increase the lead to 4-1, Edwin Diaz came in to record the last three outs.
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Diaz → homer → outs
The Dodgers moved to within four wins of playing in their third consecutive World Series, and they did it with Shohei Ohtani still missing in action.
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Ohtani → move → action
“It’s good to know that we can still win games without him doing a whole bunch,” Roberts said.
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Roberts → ’ → bunch
“But he’s going to come to life.
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he → go → life
It will happen.”
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It → happen → ?
Roberts has squinted extra hard in recent days to find evidence of that.
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Roberts → squint → that
Here’s the reality: In his last 22 combined games between the regular season and playoffs, Ohtani has no home runs and only one RBI.
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Ohtani → ’ → runs
The No. 1 player in the game doesn’t go this long without hitting in the prime of his career without something being seriously wrong with him.
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something → go → him
Ohtani spent 15 days last month on the injured list because of a discomfort in his right arm.
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Ohtani → spend → arm
A couple of days before he was placed on the IL, he said his left knee was also bothering him.
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knee → place → him
The uncertainty over Ohtani’s capabilities forced Roberts to move him around the lineup.
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uncertainty → force → lineup
With Mookie Betts grinding out quality at-bats as the leadoff hitter and Freeman producing enough to solidify his place as the team’s No. 2 hitter, Ohtani was removed from the top of the order.
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Ohtani → grind → order
Against the left-handed Chris Sale in Game 3, Ohtani batted fifth.
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Ohtani → bat → Game
Against the right-handed Mahle on Wednesday, he batted cleanup.
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he → bat → cleanup
Ohtani managed to create something out of nothing in the second inning.
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Ohtani → manage → inning
He drew a walk, then stole second base, prompting Braves catcher Sean Murphy to airmail a throw into center field.
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He → draw → field
Ohtani scampered to third base.
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Ohtani → scamper → base
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
