LOS ANGELES -- After days of having so many bullpen decisions blow up in his face, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saw everything come back together in a 3-1 Game 6 victory, forcing a Game 7 for all the proverbial marbles. Consider it his redemption.
Six days ago in this very park, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Rich Hill after just four innings of work. Hill only threw 60 pitches.
It boiled down to Roberts and his staff not wanting the powerful Astros' offense to see Hill a third time. Roberts had a stellar bullpen to that point and he wanted to stick with the formula of using Kenta Maeda for longer-than-one-inning stints, Brandon Morrow in the highest-leverage situations before save situations, Tony Watson for about an inning (sometimes less) and Tony Cingrani as his situational lefty before Kenley Jansen shut things down.
It had been working like a charm. In Game 2, it fell apart late and the Dodgers lost.
Since then, the Dodgers bullpen has been noticeably tired and inconsistent.
Thus, the Game 2 bullpen failures after what many believed was a quick hook on Hill, the narrative was launched that Roberts needed to trust his starters more and stop overtaxing his bullpen. Many media types have been hammering home that Hill held hitters to a .158/.208/.200 line this season the third time through the order. It could be that Hill would've been fine, just as he had been this season, but there are caveats there. First off, if he only sees the order a third time when he's pitching really well, that's kind of selection bias. Secondly, he pitches in the NL West against the Giants and Padres quite often. The Astros are an offensive juggernaut, as we've already seen at times this series.
Still, the critiques of Roberts' dealing with the bullpen in Game 2 and then Game 5, with everyone being so overworked, continued to sprinkle in.
Roberts himself seemed to relent and said in Monday's press conference in Dodger Stadium that he wanted to get more length out of Hill and that he didn't really want to stretch Jansen past three outs.
As the game started to unfold in front of him, however, Roberts just couldn't help himself.
With runners on second and third and no outs -- and having already allowed a George Springer home run -- Rich Hill got two strikeouts. After the strikeout of counterpart Justin Verlander, Hill intentionally walked Springer to load the bases for Alex Bregman. This had the feel of a pivotal moment in the game.
Roberts came from the dugout and took Hill out. He got just 4 2/3 innings out of him and now turned to an exhausted bullpen. He went back to his formula. This was probably the highest-leverage moment of the game, so it was a man who was making his sixth appearance of the series: Morrow.
The fans in Dodger Stadium were angry. There were boos. I heard plenty of profanity in the reserved level, too, directed at Roberts for the move (not that it bothers me, just pointing out the atmosphere). Hill went into the dugout and cleared a table of its cups of water in anger.
It really had the feel of the Astros breaking the game wide open and Roberts having to deal with intense scrutiny after the game while the Astros celebrated their World Series title. After all, Verlander was dealing.
Morrow would get a routine grounder to end the threat. He would then get two hitters the next inning before allowing a single and yielding to Watson, who himself retired the next hitter to end the inning.
"I just felt that obviously Rich came out and threw the ball really well, and matched Verlander pitch for pitch," Roberts said afterward. "Really was outstanding. And I just felt that at that point, get a guy on base, you've got second and third, and put the guy on base and punch out Verlander. For me, I just felt that that was, with Verlander on the mound, that was going to be the game. So a guy that we've trusted all year long in that spot, I felt that you have to use that bullet in Brandon Morrow, and I've believed in him all year long. And he came through in the biggest spot of the season."
He did. That's a point for Roberts. He'd gather a few more in this one.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers busted through for two runs. Roberts still needed nine more outs from his tired bullpen. He had starter Alex Wood available in relief, but he still stuck to his formula. After Watson, it was Maeda.
Then, once the bottom of the seventh inning ended -- now with a 3-1 lead thanks to a Joc Pederson solo shot -- "California Love" started to blare from the Dodger Stadium speakers.
Yes, Roberts was going to get six outs from his closer, Jansen, a situation he specifically said he wanted to avoid.
Jansen could have been a bit tired, but he was not without his stuff. When he's really on, he averages around 94 miles per hour on his cutter. He was sitting 91-92 in Game 6. He hit mid-90s a few times.
Roberts said the thought process was that he wasn't sure Jansen could finish. He needed him to be efficient.
Jansen delivered. He needed only eight pitches (all were strikes) to get the 1-2-3 in the eighth.
A soft Marwin Gonzalez pop to first baseman Cody Bellinger in shallow right was the first out in the ninth. Dodger Nation Public Enemy Number Two Josh Reddick (now behind Yuli Gurriel) was next. He would strike out swinging. Pinch hitter Carlos Beltran -- a possible Hall of Famer looking for his first ring in possibly his last season -- dug in with two outs. He would strike out as well.
Bedlam, "I Love L.A." blasting from the center field speakers and a Game 7 was now on tap. This incredible and outrageous and stupendous series was going the distance.
Was Jansen really tired? Bah, please. He threw 19 pitches. Eighteen were strikes.
"When I used him, when I called on him in the eighth, I wasn't certain," Roberts said of whether Jansen could finish. "I just knew that part of the order, I just wanted him to attack those guys. And if he wasn't as efficient in the eighth, then I would have been put in a different situation to call on to close that game out."
Again, though, Jansen came through.
It's going to be very interesting to see how Roberts sorts everything out for Game 7. He'll have Wood and Clayton Kershaw available behind starter Yu Darvish. Morrow and Maeda, not to mention Jansen, have to have close to nothing left in the tank. Of course, it is Game 7 of the World Series with an offseason immediately to follow. Empty everyone's tanks if need be.
For now, Roberts has found redemption in sticking with his formula. What didn't work in Games 2 and 5 came through in Game 6 and now the Dodgers are one win away from their first World Series title since 1988.
