Dave Roberts Becomes Villian of Game 4, Internet Explodes over His Game-Changing Decision
For better or worse, Major League Baseball has decided on the supremacy of the pitch count over coaching based on feel and letting a pitcher be a workhorse, even in the World Series.
And in Game 4, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and pitcher Rich Hill just got a face full of the downside of modern baseball strategy.
Up 4-0 in the top of the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox and just eight outs away from tying the series at two games apiece, Roberts took Hill out of the game despite, at that point, Hill working on a one-hit shutout.
The Sox scored three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth, and five in the ninth, giving their own relievers the insurance runs they needed to close out a 9-6 victory to give the Red Sox a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
Game 5 in Sunday at Dodger Stadium before the series heads back to New England, if necessary, for two chances at glory in the great green jewel of Fenway Park.
Roberts is taking the bulk of the heat on the internet for his decision, but it was Hill who first indicated after the sixth that he may not have the gas to make it to the end of the ballgame.
Roberts says Hill told him, “Keep an eye on me. I’m going to give it everything I have. Let’s go hitter to hitter, and just keep an eye on me.”
Hill walked Xander Bogaerts on six pitches to open the seventh, then he struck out Eduardo Nunez on pitch Nos. 89, 90, and 91 of his 6.1-inning outing.
Roberts then came out to the mound to get Hill and summon reliever Scott Alexander.
Alexander issued a walk to Brock Holt, prompting Roberts to bring in Ryan Madson.
Madson — who has been atrocious in the World Series, allowing all five of his inherited runners to score — gave up a three-run bomb to pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland, making the score 4-3 and prompting a whole lot of “we got ourselves a ballgame” from announcers and the kinds of people who tweet with the #DoDamage hashtag in Red Sox Nation.
The move was so seemingly boneheaded that even President Donald Trump took a potshot at Roberts.
Watching the Dodgers/Red Sox final innings. It is amazing how a manager takes out a pitcher who is loose & dominating through almost 7 innings, Rich Hill of Dodgers, and brings in nervous reliever(s) who get shellacked. 4 run lead gone. Managers do it all the time, big mistake!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2018
Roberts took the dig in stride.
“The president said that?” Roberts said. “I’m happy he was tuning in and watching the game. I don’t know how many Dodger games he’s watched. I don’t think he is privy to the conversation. That’s one man’s opinion.”
Hill, meanwhile, pointed out that just because something doesn’t work on the biggest stage, that doesn’t mean it isn’t sound, generally suitable baseball strategy.
“Everybody wants that chance,” Hill said. “But the moves that we’ve made all year have worked out. We wouldn’t have been in this position if we weren’t doing that. Unfortunately it didn’t fall in our favor tonight.”
On paper, it was the right move.
But as ESPN’s Kenny Mayne has said, “Games are not played on paper. They’re played inside television sets.”
Game 5 is Sunday night at 8:15 Eastern. The Red Sox can close out their fourth World Series championship in the past 14 years with a win.
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