Dodgers Team News

Dodgers and Giants Managers Not Naming Game 4 Starting Pitchers Yet

Cat, meet mouse. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Giants manager Gabe Kapler are playing their cards close to the chest in this NLDS matchup of heavyweights. Neither manager as of game time on Monday was willing to name a starter for a potentially decisive game 4 on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

Roberts has mentioned Tony Gonsolin and David Price as options but noted that his goal before anything was to ensure a win on Monday night in game 3. However, if the Dodgers lose, there’s a chance LA could turn to Walker Buehler on short rest on Tuesday night. He pitched the series opener on Friday in San Francisco.



Catcher Will Smith may have let the cat out of the bag before game 3 when he shared what he knew about game 4 which, incidentally, involved the Cat Man.

“I think he’s getting the ball and he should come out and give us some quality innings and I expect a good start from him.”

As for the Giants’ starter, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani made the second-most starts for the hated ones this season, tossing 167.2 innings over 31 starts.

“Strategically we want to share some,” Kapler said on Monday, “not too much, right?”

Certainly, both managers will know more and likely share more upon the conclusion of game 3 in Los Angeles.

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12 Comments

      1. Dodgerfanforlife, it won’t matter who pitches if the offense repeats itself with a game 1 or game 3 showing. Our pitching DERSERVES way more from the offense and because of what we saw tonight the off season could very well begin on Wednesday morning. I honestly would be shocked if we forced a game 5 in SF but in that game Dodgers will face Webb. But IIWII.

        1. Paul, I agree that the game 1 and 3 loses are totally on the offense. Pitching has been solid as always. Offense has to figure out a way to manufacture some runs period end of story. I’m just completely puzzled how a team this talented can be so offensively inept. It absolutely boggles the mind. With Pollock and Seager (2020 not withstanding) it’s just their playoff normal.

          1. But the Dodgers refuse to play “SMALL BALL” they don’t know how to manufacture runs. They don’t bunt, hit and run, sac squeeze etc. So when a pitcher is tough, the Dodgers fly out trying to hit homers. The Vagiants know this, and play accordingly. The Dodgers metrics -platooning-Arch angle swings will soon be a thing of the past as Baseball will finally realize that the art of fundamental baseball was successful for over 100 years for a reason….

    1. Don, I honestly thought Dodgrrs would put up at least a few runs cause obviously 2 or 3 runs would have been enough to win but this inept offense failed once again and yes it could be over by tomorrow. Roberts drastically changing the way this lineup was put out there tonight perhaps had something to do wit yet another inept offensive performance. I feel bad for the pitching staff for having nothing to show for another well pitched game.

      1. Paul, DRRRRRRRR and his daily musical chairs line up. He actually believes switching it all around every game will fool the opposing pitchers. His post season winning percentage is dropping even further……

        1. Paul and Kirk, Kapler has put out a different lineup in each of the three games. Kris Bryant has started in CF, RF and 1B. This argument against Roberts carries no weight whatsoever!

          Cheatstros have played no SMALL BALL whatsoever and have scored 3,000 runs in 4 games vs the White Sox.

          If you want to bash Roberts, go ahead. I blame the front office and the players lack of ability/desire to produce offensively.

  1. It was all teed up for the Dodgers tonight.
    They were at home, coming off a big win in Game 2 and they had Scherzer on the mound.
    Scherzer was outstanding.
    Pujols was 2 for 2.
    Even Souza contributed with a PH.
    Still, the Dodgers could not muster even 1 run and lose 1-0.
    Dodgers’ offense scored 1 run in the 1st 8 innings of the WC game before Taylor’s walk off HR in the 9th and the Dodgers score 0 runs in Games 1 and 3 of this series. That’s virtually 3 full games, not counting Taylor’s HR and the Dodgers score 1 run total in 26 innings. That’s impossible…right?
    Let’s hope they can replicate their offensive production in Game 2, or at the very least, score a few runs in Game 4 to give themselves a fighting chance.

    1. I concur. Last night was a complete disappointment as it would seem that everything was in the Dodgers’ favor: the Dodgers had home advantage, Scherzer was on the mound and the Dodgers were coming off of a strong win in Game 2. The fact that the Dodgers were unable to produce a single run against Wood and the Giants’ relievers was beyond frustrating. I think that the Dodgers’ bullpen has proven itself over and over, but our Dodgers offense MUST show up tonight and get something going early so that none of us are depending on late inning heroics to stay in this. (Lux should get credit for trying and almost doing it against the Giants’ new phenom closer.) Now GO DODGERS!

  2. I watched this game with a group of my buddies, we all thought the Dodgers would win it. After Albert Pujols had his second single in bottom of the fifth, with nobody out, we were all there saying “Dave Roberts has finally made the smart move in tonight’s game starting Pujols”, then BANG!!! Roberts pulled Pujols out of the game right after we said that. We were just going WTF?? Are you kidding me? Roberts just pulled the hottest hitter out of the lineup. Even TBS announcers were scratching their head, saying “Pujols so far had the only two hits for the Dodgers”. And right then one of my buddies said “I bet you the Dodgers get shut out tonight”. We just had a hunch at that point the game was turning to the Giants’ favor, momentum had swung to their favor. Sure enough, after Pujols went out, the Giants got every break possible, Solano made one great catch, Crawford made two impossible line drive catches. Then Lux’s homerun fell short due to the wind, everything was just going the Giants way after Pujols got pulled by Roberts.

    Momentum is a strange phenomenon in sports, whether you believe it or not, one momentum change can turn the whole game around to another team’s favor. Pat Riley in his 1987 book “Showtime: Running with the Lakers” talked about “Momentum”, and “Menmotum”. “Menmotum” means the reverse of “Momentum”. When a team gets hit with a “Menmotum”, every bad break starts happening to that team, that’s exactly what happened to the Dodgers in Game 3.

    Should we blame Dave Roberts on this? He later put Cody Bellinger on 1st base to replace McKinney who replaced Pujols. Guess what, Cody Bellinger didn’t even get to hit. If Roberts didn’t even have confidence to let Bellinger hit, then why the heck did he pull Pujols out of the game, who was 2 – 2 at the time?

    Oh yeah, this series is over. Thanks, Doc.

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