There’s no two ways about it: the Los Angeles Dodgers got absolutely brutalized in their Saturday night showdown against the Chicago Cubs.
The game started off well enough, with Roki Sasaki allowing only one run through five innings of action, but in the sixth inning, the proverbial train fell off the rails, with reliever Ben Casparius getting hammered to the tune of seven hits, six runs, and a home run for not-so-good measure.
What gives? Why did Dave Roberts keep the reliever in the game when he was giving up a hit to almost every batter he faced? Well, after the game, the World Series-winning skipper was asked about that very inning and gave his explanation of where things went wrong.
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“I think tonight, Ben just didn’t command the baseball. The slider wasn’t sharp; the fastball was miscommanded; you could see the 1-2 fastball to Carson Kelly high count leverage,” Roberts said. “The fastball went goes middle in, it was supposed to go away with count leverage, and he hit a homer, and it just kind of spiraled from there. He just couldn’t make pitches tonight, and he’s been great. He’s been great for us. He was great for us early on, so I’m not going to put too much credence into one rough outing.”
Alright, while Roberts didn’t actually explain why he didn’t pull Casparius in the sixth until it was too late, his rationale is pretty simple to understand: Roberts knows the Dodgers are down pitchers at the moment and will need to rely on his bullpen more than usual moving forward as a result. After giving up that many runs, it became more about finishing the game, with Miguel Rojas inserted into the game to finish out the final two innings rather than stealing a comeback win.
Was this an ugly loss? 100 percent, but hey, at least the fans in attendance can say they witnessed the worst home loss in Dodgers history, which, when coupled with Rojas’ efforts, is memorable all the same.
