{"id":31296,"date":"2025-10-31T03:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T03:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/31296\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T03:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T03:18:10","slug":"dave-roberts-challenges-dodgers-batters-for-world-series-game-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/31296\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Roberts challenges Dodgers batters for World Series Game 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TORONTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It was a miserably cold, rainy and gray afternoon outside Rogers Centre on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Inside the stadium, however, the Dodgers<\/a> found some rays of emotional sunshine.<\/p>\n

No, this is not where the team wanted to be, facing a 3-2 deficit<\/a> in the World Series entering Game 6 on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

And no, there was not much to feel good about after a disastrous 48 hours in Games 4<\/a> and 5 of this Fall Classic<\/a>, in which the Dodgers relinquished control of the series and allowed their title-defense campaign to be put on life support.<\/p>\n

But during an off-day workout, the club tried to rebound from that disappointment and reframe the downtrodden mindset that permeated the clubhouse after Game 5.<\/p>\n

Every player showed up to the ballpark, even though attendance was optional after a long night of travel. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was pretty exciting for me, and just speaks to where these guys are at,\u201d manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said. \u201cThey realize that the job\u2019s not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts brought some levity to the start of the workout, too, challenging speedster Hyeseong Kim<\/a> to a race around the bases \u2014 only to stumble face-first on the turn around second while trying to preserve his comically large head start.<\/p>\n

\u201cCut the cameras,\u201d Roberts yelled to media members, as he playfully grabbed at his hamstring and wiped dirt off his sweatshirt.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reacts after falling while challenging Hyeseong Kim to a race on the basepaths during a team workout at Rogers Centre on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(Vaughn Ridley \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Then, the Dodgers got to work on their primary task: Trying to sync up an offense that had looked lost the last two games, and has scuffled through much of October.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing a lot of thinking about this … and I could dive into my thoughts,\u201d Roberts said of the team\u2019s offensive struggles, which he noted could include another lineup alteration for Game 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think at the end of the day,\u201d Roberts continued, \u201cthey just have to compete and fight in the batter\u2019s box. It\u2019s one-on-one, the hitter versus the pitcher, and that\u2019s it. Really. I mean, I think that that sort of mindset is all I\u2019ll be looking for. And I expect good things to happen from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the losses at Chavez Ravine, the majors\u2019 second-highest scoring offense struggled to hone that ethos. The Dodgers scored only three runs, racked up a woeful 10 hits and looked more like the version of themselves that stumbled through much of the second half of the season before entering the playoffs on a late-season surge.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Their biggest stars stopped hitting. Their teamwide approach went by the wayside. And in the aftermath of Game 5, they almost seemed to be searching for their identity as a team at the plate \u2014 trying to couple their naturally gifted slugging ability, with the need to work more competitive at-bats and earn hittable pitches first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just not having good at-bats,\u201d third baseman Max Muncy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to figure something out,\u201d echoed shortstop Mookie Betts.<\/p>\n

Take a quick glance at the numbers in this World Series, and the Dodgers\u2019 hitting problems are relatively easy to explain. <\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani (who took another Ruthian round of batting practice Thursday) does not have a hit since reaching base nine times in the 18-inning Game 3 marathon. Betts (who spent as much time hitting as anyone Thursday) has bottomed out with a three-for-25 performance.<\/p>\n

Other important bats, including Muncy and Tommy Edman, are hitting under .200. And as a team, the Dodgers have 55 strikeouts (11 more than the Blue Jays), a .201 overall average and just six hits in 30 at-bats with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a lot of guys who aren\u2019t hot right now, aren\u2019t feeling the best,\u201d Edman said Wednesday night. \u201cBut we got to turn the page, and hopefully we can swing it better the next couple days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a group,\u201d Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez added, \u201cit\u2019s time for us to show our character and put up a fight and see what happens. … It\u2019s time for us, for the offense, to show up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Better production from Betts would be a good start.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday night, the shortstop did not mince words about his recent offensive struggles, saying he has \u201cjust been terrible\u201d after batting .164 in 13 games since the start of the National League Division Series.<\/p>\n

Roberts tried to take some pressure off the former MVP in Game 5, moving him from second to third in a reshuffled batting order. But after that yielded yet another hitless performance, Roberts further simplified the task for his 33-year-old star.<\/p>\n

\u201cFocus on one game, and be good for one game,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cGo out there and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, that was Betts\u2019 focus, with multiple people around the team noting a quiet and renewed confidence he carried into his off-day batting practice session. He had long talks with hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, special assistant Ron Roenicke and Roberts around the hitting cage. He searched for answers to a swing that, of late, has generated too many shallow pop-ups and mishit balls.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers teammates Mookie Betts, left, Max Muncy, Tommy Edman and Freddie Freeman wait on the infield during a pitching change in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked great,\u201d fellow hitting coach Aaron Bates said. \u201cActually, his head was in a good place. Good spirits. The whole group, guys were great. Everyone came and showed up and hit and got their work in.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Dodgers to save their season, it isn\u2019t only Betts who will need to find a turnaround.<\/p>\n

While Blue Jays starters Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage pitched well in Games 4 and 5, the Dodgers also seemed to struggle to adapt their plan of attack \u2014 getting stuck in an \u201cin-between\u201d state, as both Roberts and several players noted, of both trying to attack fastballs and protect against secondary stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we\u2019re too aggressive,\u201d outfielder Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cSometimes we\u2019re too patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like at-bats are snowballing on us right now,\u201d Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez added. \u201cWe\u2019re getting pitches to hit, we\u2019re missing them. And we\u2019re expanding the zone with two strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being \u201cin-between\u201d was a problem for the Dodgers late in the season, when they ranked just 12th in the majors in scoring after the All-Star break. That it is happening again raises a familiar question about the identity of the club. <\/p>\n

Do they want to be an aggressive, slugging lineup that lives and dies by the home run? Or more of a contact-minded unit capable of grinding out at-bats and stressing an opposing pitcher\u2019s pitch count. Roberts\u2019 emphasis on better \u201ccompete\u201d signaled the need to do more of the latter. <\/p>\n

Freeman echoed that notion leading up to Game 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going up there just trying to hit home runs, it\u2019s just not the name of the game,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cWe just need to check down and have, like, almost a 0-1 mindset. Just build innings, extend \u2018em, work counts, be who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, how do they actually go about doing that, ahead of a Game 6 matchup with a pitcher in Kevin Gausman who excels at mixing his fastball and splitter?<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, you have to keep to your strengths,\u201d Bates said. \u201cAnd see what the next pitcher brings to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only silver lining: The Dodgers have been in this spot before.<\/p>\n

Last year, at the very start of their World Series run, they faced a similar situation in the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, winning back-to-back games with clutch offensive outbursts that helped catapult them to an eventual World Series title.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do it again,\u201d Freeman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re a more talented team than we were last year,\u201d Kike Hern\u00e1ndez added.<\/p>\n

Entering Friday, they will have two games to prove it. Now or never. Do, or watch their dreams of cementing a dynasty die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It was a miserably cold, rainy and gray afternoon outside Rogers Centre on Thursday. Inside the stadium, however,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[19405,22836,22835,22837,423,6135,1049,48,52,51,47,50,49,4256,424,22838,428,427,2429,315,17887],"class_list":{"0":"post-31296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-betts","9":"tag-competitive-at-bat","10":"tag-dodgers-batter","11":"tag-downtrodden-mindset","12":"tag-game","13":"tag-guy","14":"tag-hit","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","20":"tag-los-angeles-news","21":"tag-pitcher","22":"tag-roberts","23":"tag-scoring-position","24":"tag-start","25":"tag-team","26":"tag-thursday","27":"tag-time","28":"tag-world-series-game"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}