The Dodgers are down, 0-2, in the National League Championship Series. Manager Dave Roberts doesn’t need to hold a team meeting to remind his players about the urgency they must have against the Brewers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night. He just wants his team to play better.
In the two games, the Dodgers’ offense is 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and their starting pitchers, Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, didn’t give them length.
Now, it’s Blake Snell’s turn to limit the Brewers. During his career, he faced them three times during the regular season and has allowed nine runs in 14 innings. However, Snell had his way against Milwaukee in last year’s NLCS. In Game 1, Snell pitched eight shutout innings in a 2-1 victory.
“I think we are playing with urgency,” Roberts said. “I like the (way we) compete. We’ve just got to play better. I think pitching better, getting hits, scoring runs, all that stuff — we’ve just got to win a game.
“I’m not too concerned about the urgency. I just want to keep that intensity. It’s going to be good to be at home, play in front of the home crowd again, win a game and then go from there.”
One thing Roberts is not going to do is bench designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who is expected to hit in the middle of the order against Brewers left-hander Robert Gasser. According to The Athletic, Roberts considered sitting Ohtani down for Game 3 because of left knee and right biceps injuries. It also doesn’t help that Ohtani is in a 3-for-20 slump without an RBI in the postseason. But Roberts spoke to Ohtani on Tuesday and the ladder said he is feeling much better.
“He’s adamant he feels good enough to be in there,” Roberts said about Ohtani. “He’s close to finding something with his swing. I feel great about it. Yeah, he wants to be in there and help us win a ballgame and win a championship. Great conversation, and I’m excited about having him in there. … With that, I’m excited. I’m all about it. So he’ll be in there.”
