Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Reacts to Bobby Miller’s Game 2 Outing
The Dodgers find themselves in a terrible spot after two games in the NLDS. Following a 4-2 loss to Arizona, their backs are against the wall as the team faces elimination in the first round of the playoffs for the second season in a row. For the second game in a row, the night’s starting pitcher struggled.
Rookie Bobby Miller took the ball for LA and admittedly was a little overamped to start the game. While he was able to do what Clayton Kershaw wasn’t and collect three outs in the first inning, he also allowed three earned runs in the frame. The right-hander came back out for the second but it was more of the same. With two runners on and two outs in the innings, manager Dave Roberts pulled Miller from the game.
Roberts talked about what he saw from the 24-year-old after the game.
“I just thought he wasn’t sharp for me. I thought he was getting behind. And those guys saw a lot of pitches. And where we’re at tonight, being down 3-0 in the first inning and then you look at that second inning, and me recalling the at-bat that Pham had on him, doesn’t punch. And the guy behind him, Walker, really squared the ball up that first at-bat. So it’s just one of those I felt at that point in time we couldn’t afford to go down 4-0. And I wanted to give our team a chance to extend the game and felt that we could prevent runs for the duration of the game.”
Via DodgersNationTV
The Dodger bullpen was electric behind Miller, allowing just one run on a solo home run in the sixth inning over the final 7.1 innings of the game. As good as the pitching was after the starter, once again the LA offense struggled. The club plated just 2 runs on 6 hits while issues with runners in scoring position continued.
After the game, reporters caught up with one of the frozen LA bats, Mookie Betts, who wasn’t ready to put much onus on himself for the team’s anemic offense. “This isn’t about me, this is about the Dodgers … all of us gotta get going. We had a couple opportunities and we just didn’t cash them in. For me and Freddie [Freeman], that’s kind of our role. We’re not doing it.”
The Dodgers will take a workout day at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday before hopping a plane to Arizona for Game 3 with their 2023 season on life support.
Photo Credit: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic
