Q. Are you okay? Did you need treatment and are you available to pinch run tonight?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I got some meds in me. I'm still going to post. I'm probable. So it's good. Recovered. Not my best decision, but it worked out.
Q. I think the hat's still dirty.
DAVE ROBERTS: Oh, yeah, there's still some remnants.
Q. You're not someone who often likes to address the team but as you-all are facing elimination looking to force a Game 7, is there a conversation or a message that you share with the group this evening?
DAVE ROBERTS: No. You know what? I pick my spots and I just think that tonight it's -- you know, it's Game 6. This is what you live for. You want to be a part of this, you want to be in this moment, this game. The guys came in yesterday fresh, excited to work out, and that carried over to tonight.
So for me, I'm excited. They're excited about playing tonight. So I think for me, there's no reason -- their actions are showing me that their heads are in the right spot.
Q. Having experienced both of them, different sets of characters, do you notice any similarities of the aftermath of the two 18-inning games? You both lost two games at Dodgers stadium after those 18-inning games?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, no, that's fair. Obviously, very emotional for our club, emotional for their club. But they came out and won two games and the Red Sox won two games. So, yeah, I don't know what the parallels were, but as far as today, I feel good with Yamamoto tonight. I feel good where -- I just feel good about what's going to happen tonight. But we got to play good ball.
Q. Is there any aftermath of fatigue factor when you come out of a game like that?
DAVE ROBERTS: I'm sure there is, but there's just kind of -- but I think there is for their team too. But they came out and won two ball games. So with the off day yesterday, I feel that we're refreshed. But it all doesn't matter. You still got to go out there and play good baseball, you got to win a game.
Q. What went into the lineup changes today?
DAVE ROBERTS: You know, I think for me, I just really wanted Miggy in there. He's been a really glue guy for our club this year, and I just feel that having him in the lineup infuses some extra intensity, energy into the lineup. On the defensive side too. You know, I wanted him to be in the lineup, and nothing against anybody else.
And then as far as kind of just putting Mookie in the 4, I just felt that I wanted those three guys to have a chance to get on for Mookie, get on base, and have those guys take the most at-bats. That's kind of the math a little bit.
Q. How did Mookie look yesterday, and what are some of the keys -- I mean, even with just a one-day kind of reset that you want to see from him at the plate tonight?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yesterday was really good. I thought yesterday he had a really good day of work. He commented on it. The hitting coaches commented on it. They're going to make good pitches. He's going to go out there and compete. But I think that where his swing is at mechanically is as good as it's been in a week, so I really feel good about that.
Yeah, Shohei looked good. He took BP on the field. Freddie looked good. Will took the day to just kind of recoup and recover. Muncy looked good. So we're in a good spot.
Q. You sort of mentioned that with that answer, but the idea of having a day off and having that reset, having some comic relief too, but how much does that help in terms of actually resetting, especially from an offensive standpoint?
DAVE ROBERTS: It does. It does. I mean, it takes a lot out of you. But that's what you go through, that's what they went through, and the off day was beneficial. I gave the guys an option to pass on the workout, but they all didn't want to take the option, so that really excited me that they wanted to come here and get their legs moving and their bodies moving, but still not have to play a game. But, yeah, we came in fresh today. Our guys are focused today.
Q. How meaningful is that that everybody showed up?
DAVE ROBERTS: It got me fired up. When I was getting off the plane, and they said that they're not taking the option, I couldn't wait to get to the ballpark. So that pumped me up. But not surprising.
Q. How was the conversation with Shohei yesterday? And then did you make any decision?
DAVE ROBERTS: We didn't make a decision. I think right now, we're just focused on today. Shohei's not a part of the pitching plan today. When win this game tonight, then we can kind of circle up and have that conversation for tomorrow.
Q. You mentioned yesterday the urgency of every play tonight in an elimination game. How do you balance that with just having the guys go out there and just do what they do well and just play baseball?
DAVE ROBERTS: That's right. That's kind of the nuance of it. I think that the importance of this game, we all understand that. The importance of playing focused baseball, we all understand that. But also you've got to be able to play loose and play the game. So certainly tension, trying too hard, doesn't translate into success at the bat, so we just got to go out there -- that's why I said yesterday, we just need to go out there and compete and don't kind of over-think things, just play the game and take what the pitcher gives you, have good at-bats, and then go out there and run the bases, play good defense, and expect to win.
Q. I know you talked about the team-wide approach yesterday, but do you feel like collectively as a group, you've done a good enough job this year of adjusting in game? And how important is that going to have to be especially against a guy like Gausman tonight?
DAVE ROBERTS: You know, it's going to be imperative tonight because there's a fastball, there's a split, there's a little breaking ball in there, and what he's going to do, he's reading our guys and adjusting, and we've got to be able to do the same. So we have seen this guy a ton. He got into the 7th inning against us six days ago. We know what he can do, the stuff, so we've got to be willing to, again, adjust in game if need be.
Q. And what sort of changed your mind on -- obviously, you said you wanted to have Rojas in there, but what changed your mind on being willing to have Tommy out there in center?
DAVE ROBERTS: He said all along that he can go out there and play center field. He says the ankle feels good enough to do that, and he's played a lot of center field. So I just felt, again, the net sum of having both those guys in there, that's how we had to construct it, and I feel great about it.
Q. Getting back to the great race last night, I have one question: What were you thinking?
DAVE ROBERTS: I clearly wasn't thinking. I was trying to add a little levity, that's for sure. I wasn't trying to do a face plant at shortstop, and yeah, the legs just gave way. That will be the last full sprint I ever do in my life. And I paid my debt, because there was a little wager, so I did owe up.
Q. How much have you heard about that in the hours since?
DAVE ROBERTS: It's definitely on the family thread, a little bit bigger circle than that. But I don't do social media, thank goodness, but I guess it's pretty out there. So yeah, my kids weren't too excited for me about it.
Q. You're expecting kind of big things from Yoshinobu tonight, but with the bullpen, if they're involved, do you kind of stick just to your circle of trust here? Is that what you have to do in a Game 6?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think that, obviously, he's the number one option, and we're going to kind of watch how he's throwing the baseball. This is a must-win game. But, yeah, there's a few guys that I'm going to go to tonight.
Q. You've kind of hit on it over time, but with Yoshi, ahead of the NLCS game, he's talked about how losing is not an option. When you look at what he's been able to do, the two complete games, what to you exemplifies just that mindset of him on the mound and how it truly is not an option for him?
DAVE ROBERTS: Wow, yeah, I guess it's just kind of not giving yourself any other option and finding a way to perform, have success. It's just a different level of focus and compete. It really is. You got to be efficient, you got to be good, you can't look for any outs as far as guys coming to kind of rescue you out of the pen. It's part of his DNA, and he prepares so well, his delivery is sound. He's got four pitches to kind of be able to manage the second, third time through to attack hitters. It's swing-and-miss stuff, but he can strike pitches.
So it's just a whole kind of -- that's why he's one of the few great pitchers in our game today.
Q. Is Tyler available for you out of the pen tonight?
DAVE ROBERTS: He'll be in there. He'll be in there. But I think that, yeah, you got to win today, which is most important, but you still got to win two games. So how we balance that, the game will tell.
Q. With Sasaki having three days off and then his pedigree originally as a starter, a guy looking to -- used to going up and down, how much will those factors converge tonight with what we might see from him?
DAVE ROBERTS: They will converge. But I think that's certainly an option, and I'm thinking about that, but obviously, the number one option is to let Yoshi do what he's done the last two starts, but if not, that's part of the math, for sure.
Q. I brought this up before Game 1 about the pressure on when you mentioned, Let's run it back, during the -- at the celebration after the parade. What's the pressure feel like now, as in this do-or-die Game 6 for you?
DAVE ROBERTS: You know, ironically it doesn't feel like pressure. I think we just got to win. That's kind of the overall running it back, all the stuff, we are here, we got to win a game tonight. I mean, guys are loose, guys are prepared, and we got to play a good ball game to win. So I don't think that anything that's said before or that could happen, you know, what this means. I think right now the only thing focus is just winning.
Q. On the same vein with that, you guys faced pressure and expectations all year, just from being defending champs and for being the Dodgers, but when you get into a World Series and it gets 1-1, it gets 2-1, it gets 3-2, does it file up on this stage? Is that something you have to guard against?
DAVE ROBERTS: You do, you absolutely have to guard against it. I think different teams handle it different ways. But I do think that we've faced elimination games -- we still know the importance of it, of course. But I think the way the guys have come in, and kind of just understand that it's still just winning a baseball game, playing good baseball. So we do a good job of not letting some of that outside noise get to us. We really do. But, yeah, it's a big moment, it's a big ball game.
Q. What's the logistics of getting Shohei down to the bullpen while he's still hitting?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, that, I don't know the answer right now, so I'm not going to have an answer for that one tonight. Give me a night to think about that one.
Q. So you guys haven't thought it through? I mean, I know he did it in the World Baseball Classic, but that's the only time.
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, yeah. We haven't thought that one through. So we got to get through this one, and then I think all that logistic stuff, we'll kind of talk through and figure out what's best for Sho, what's best for us.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports