Facing elimination in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shook up the lineup by returning to the norm: Shohei Ohtani leading off.
He penciled in Ohtani’s name at the top of the order for the first time in the postseason.
“Just seeing the work the last couple days, I like where his head is at,” Roberts said. “I liked the at-bats yesterday, and I felt that trying to shake it up a little bit. Obviously we haven’t performed the way that we’re capable of, so to kind of shake it up a little bit, but something that’s of somewhat normalcy, that our guys are used to.”
Ohtani, who has dealt with lingering left knee and right biceps injuries for much of the year, hasn’t looked like himself this postseason — to the point that the Dodgers discussed potentially sitting him to address injury concerns.
After Ohtnai was adamant that he could play, however, Roberts kept him in the lineup Wednesday for Game 3. And from the No. 6 spot in the lineup, he reached base three times — on a hit by pitch, walk and single.
The Dodgers will have to win four straight games to advance to the World Series. Only the 2004 Red Sox have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series in MLB history, and Roberts was on that team.
“No one in this [interview] room thinks — and no one in that room back in 2004 thought — we could win the World Series or get to the World Series,” Roberts said. “But at the end of the day, all that mattered are the guys in the room. So it’s very daunting.
“That’s what that group did a great job of. We’ve got nothing to lose. No one thinks we can beat the Yankees down 3-0. No one thinks we’re going to come back in this series. But the most important thing is what those guys believe. That’s probably the biggest take-away that I recall.”
Here’s the Dodgers’ Game 4 lineup, against Brewers left-handed opener Shane Drohan:
Shohei Ohtani DH
Mookie Betts SS
Freddie Freeman 1B
Will Smith C
Kyle Tucker RF
Teoscar Hernández LF
Miguel Rojas 2B
Andy Pages CF
Kiké Hernández 3B