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MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS RED SOX

October 26, 2018

Dave Roberts

Los Angeles, California - postgame 3

Red Sox - 2 Dodgers - 3

Q. Just the way you drew it up?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah. Yeah, parts of three games I think. Obviously it's a great one to win. It was a must-win for us. Our guys just persevered. It wasn't pretty. I think we've got to go back and really appreciate Walker's outing. He pitched his tail off. And put us in a chance to win that game. We felt that in a must-win game to go to Kenley for two innings, we liked that. That was the plan. It didn't work out. But, again, you look at what Walker did in allowing us to kind of be in a good spot, considering how many innings we played tonight for tomorrow with the pen. And that started with Walker.

But Muncy to get that hit late, he's got some big hits for us. And to stay on the cutter was pretty special right there. But Eovaldi -- that's what the World Series is all about. So from the other side, what he did for that club, for me on the other side, we were kind of victim of it. But it was fun to watch.

Q. In the two World Series that you've been with this team what has made Joc Peterson so impressive during the postseason this year and last year?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think it started in '16, he hit a homer off Scherzer, a big homer the other way at Nats Park. And Joc has really matured over the last three years. And he looks over the baseball very well. And when he can stay in the strike zone, he's very dangerous. And you look at his career in the postseason, he's had a lot of big homers, against some very good pitching, obviously. He doesn't let the moment get too big for him. And that hit to get us going was big.

Q. It's one win, but I think tactically you have to feel pretty good about having to force Alex to use as many pitchers as he did and just where they're at. How big of an advantage is that for you coming out of this?
DAVE ROBERTS: We're down 2-1, but I think that the crowd tonight was outstanding. Was loud from before the first pitch, and we anticipated that. So to get in front of 50,000 Dodger fans to drive us and to stay for, what was is 17 innings, 18, 19, 7 hours and 20 minutes, and there were still probably fans here. So the way that our guys, our pen, got the outs that they needed, and they did a heck of a job. So you look at tomorrow after playing 7 hours and 20 minutes, our pen's in pretty good shape.

So there's some guys that we wanted to stay away from today, namely Madson, Julio, but for those guys to give us big outs and pick us up when we needed it, it's kind of a signature of our ballclub. Had our backs against the wall many times, and for us to persevere, and like you said, it wasn't how we scripted it, but it was a big win for us.

Q. I'm sure you're living in the moment about how important is it to win this game, but at any point are you playing the, "What do I have for tomorrow? Am I going to play three games in three days or five in six?" Or not, have you begun to do it since the 7 hour and 20 minute game ended?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think that, again, I think -- I've got to go back and talk to the relievers, and we'll know more tomorrow, but as far as their usage, this is a World Series. And we're coming off an off-day. Considering what we went through tonight, we're in good shape with our pen; we really are. Obviously Rich is going to have to come out there and get some outs. But considering where they're at over there, and where we're at, I like where we're at.

Q. Did you get a sense that the magnitude of the moment is a different kind of driving force for Walker than other people? He's 24 years old. He's a rookie still.
DAVE ROBERTS: I think that certain people can handle a moment like this and understand what was at stake tonight. And we needed his best effort. And we needed him to go deeper than their starter, log some innings. And some guys run from it. Some guys can't answer the bell. But this guy, he's got an overt confidence, a quiet confidence, a little combo. But he's got tremendous stuff. And he lives for moments like this.

So it's good to have obviously him on our side. And the age is really something we don't concern ourselves about. It's kind of what's in between the head and the heart. He's got what it takes to be that top-of-the-rotation guy.

Q. Down 2-1 is a big difference from down 0-3. Do you feel is there a momentum shift after a game like this?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, all I know is we're feeling pretty good about ourselves right now, to have two more games at home, but right now our focus is tomorrow. Or today. Later today.

I know it's a lot better feeling than we had after Game 1 and Game 2. We expect Richie to come out with some fire like he always has. Like I said, counting outs, looking at the pen, we're in good shape. Considering where we're at, down 2-1, home crowd behind us, I think there's a little bit of momentum on our side, yeah.

Q. How does Max Muncy go from being released by the Oakland A's to this?
DAVE ROBERTS: Everyone has a different path, and I think that it's -- there's something that Max -- and I've talked to him about how much more mature he's become going through that experience. Later bloomer in the sense of opportunity. But he's a college kid - Baylor, he's intelligent, he's tough. He really understands who he is as a baseball player. And this is an opportunity that he's created for himself. And all the credit goes to him to take it and run. And he's gotten a lot of big hits for us. And he just missed a homer earlier in the breaker. But to continue to go out there and play first and stick him at second base in the double-switch, and to take a backdoor cutter the other way, it's a great story, it really is.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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