Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke about the Dodgers’ bullpen following their poor performance against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.
Blake Snell got into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning, leaving the game with the bases loaded and no outs with the score at 2-2. Emmet Sheehan came in to relieve Snell, and allowed two singles and a walk to give the Blue Jays a 5-2 lead.
Anthony Banda relieved Sheehan after the latter got a force out at home, but gave up a pinch-hit grand slam to Addison Barger — the first batter he faced. Three batters later, Alejandro Kirk left the yard to give Toronto an 11-2 lead.
The Dodgers went on to lose the game 11-4
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“They need to bounce back,” Roberts said of Sheehan and Banda. “I wouldn’t say concerning. Anthony’s been very good for us, and he left a breaking ball up. But, yeah, with the construct of the pen, we’re going to need ’em, and so we got a long way to go, a lot of baseball, but they certainly got to make good pitches.”
Banda had been solid for the Dodgers throughout the postseason up until World Series Game 1, having not allowed a run through his first three appearances this postseason. Sheehan hasn’t had as good of a record, allowing a run in all four of his appearances this October.
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The Dodgers’ Game 1 loss on Friday marked their first loss on the road this postseason, as well as the first time they’ve trailed in a series in the playoffs. LA needs to get going in the second game of the series, and will look to even up the Fall Classic with a win on the road on Saturday.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the Dodgers’ Game 2 starter, and will look to turn the Dodgers in the right direction on Saturday. First pitch for Game 2 comes at 5:00 p.m. PT.
Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
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2 Responses
The bullpen issues are compounded by poor decision making. Yesterday, Sheehan was not going to get the team out of Blake Snell’s mess, Banda wasn’t going to solve the problem, the only guy who could get out of it relatively cleanly was Blake Snell. Roberts gave up on him way too early and it cost the game.
Today’s game was excellent for 2 reasons. Yamamoto’s performance avoided the bullpen issues, and he did so well that Roberts had no decision to make. The Dodgers do better when Roberts doesn’t make decisions like changing pitchers too early.
Blake Snell was struggling mightily yesterday and had just loaded the bases with no outs and had no command. It was time to get him out of that game