Doctober classic propels Dodgers to NLCS in quest for World Series three-peat

ATLANTA — Dave Roberts didn’t hesitate.So what if Tyler Glasnow had thrown only 78 pitches?So what if he was still in the fifth inning?Glasnow had walked his second batter of the inning, and Roberts wasn’t about to take any chances.Calling on Alex Vesia to record the final out of the inning, Roberts initiated a chaotic sequence of events that resulted in the Dodgers claiming a 4-1 victory over the Braves in Game 4 of their National League Division Series.The Dodgers advanced to the NL Championship Series.Because of Tarik Skubal.Because of Yoshinobu Yamamoto.Because of Freddie Freeman.And because of David Ray Roberts, the manager affectionately known as Doc who has a game or two like this every October.The victory over the Braves on Wednesday was a Doctober classic.On a day in which one of his four aces lasted only 4 ⅔ innings, Roberts figured out how to cover 13 outs of the game with a notoriously unpredictable bullpen.Roberts’ fingerprints were also all over Andy Pages’ two-run single in the seventh inning that broke open the game.When Teoscar Hernandez singled that inning with one out, Braves manager Walt Weiss replaced starting pitcher Tyler Mahle with right-hander Didier Fuentes.Fuentes forced Max Muncy to ground out, but Hernandez advanced to second base on the play.Due up was Game 3 hero Kike Hernandez.Rather than have the right-handed utilityman face Fuentes, Roberts deployed rookie Josue De Paula as a pinch hitter.The left-handed-hitting De Paula drew a walk, at which point he was replaced on the basepaths by Tommy Edman.Kyle Tucker followed up with another walk to load the bases, at which point Weiss turned to fireballer Robert Suarez to pitch to Pages.Pages batted .078 in the postseason last year, which resulted in his benching in the World Series.

He was 0-for-7 in the first two games of this series, but Roberts stuck with him.Roberts’ faith was rewarded by the most important hit of Pages’ three-year career, a single to right field that ...