LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of elimination down 3-0 in the National League Championship Series and have one shot to save their season in Game 4 at Dodger Stadium on Thursday evening. Manager Dave Roberts saw pretty much all of his Game 3 moves backfire, from non-pitching changes to wasting bench players, as the Dodgers could not hold a short-lived lead and now face elimination at home.
Despite the deficit, Roberts and his players continue to express optimism, though Roberts said he will not lean on his own history to motivate the club. Roberts was part of the Boston Red Sox team that came back from down 3-0 to the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. "Absolutely not," he said with a laugh. "Then I'll lose them. I don't know if some of those guys even know I played. No, absolutely not."
The Dodgers say they remain confident in Game 4 starter Tyler Glasnow to keep the season alive. "Everybody in the team is very confident in his ability and the stuff that's coming out of his hand and doing his job," Tarik Skubal said of Glasnow. "I feel great about Glas," utility man Kiké Hernández added. "He's got some of the best stuff in the game. I feel like our pitchers have given us a chance every day to win a game, and we just haven't hit. So we just got to hit." Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith offered some hope after their best nights at the plate this postseason, with Ohtani reaching base three times and Smith delivering an RBI double that brought in the Dodgers' only runs of the night.
The club also received a bright spot off the field as Max Muncy was named a finalist for the Gold Glove Award at third base, while Manny Machado was not. The deficit follows the Dodgers' Game 3 loss that put them in a 3-0 hole in the NLCS following the Brewers' Game 3 win to take a 3-0 NLCS lead, leaving Los Angeles needing four straight wins to advance.