Just as Dodger fans were slowly … slowly getting over (or at least getting past) Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ bonehead decisions to utilize starter Clayton Kershaw in a relief role and to not utilized closer Kenley Jansen in a spot in which he absolutely positively should have, baseball fans were reminded once again on Saturday night in Game-4 of the (Dodgersless) 2019 World Series what a bonehead managerial decision can do, especially on baseball’s biggest stage.

Although it’s probably safe to say that many Dodger fans could give a rat’s ear as to the eventual winner of this year’s Fall Classic since their beloved Dodgers are not in it, it’s also probably safe to say that a good many of them would prefer that the team that knocked their Dodgers out of the postseason – the Washington Nationals – to go on to win it all so that they have solace – however slight – in knowing that they got beat by the best (or at least hottest) team in the game; not to mention the fact that in doing so, the team that beat them in the 2017 World Series would themselves be beaten.

As Dodger fans so painfully recall, it was Roberts’ decision to piggyback Kershaw – in relief – after right-hander Walker Buehler‘s brilliant 6.2-inning performance in which he allowed only one run on four hits, while walking three and striking out seven on a season (and career) high 117 pitches, of which 74 were strikes.

But in the top of the seventh inning, Buehler hit Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki with a pitch, struck out center fielder Michael A. Taylor, got pinch-hitter Asdrúbal Cabrera to fly out to center, but then walked Nats shortstop Trea Turner to put runners at first and second with two outs, prompting Roberts to pull his young right-hander and bring in his onetime ace – in an unfamiliar role – to try to get the final out of the inning. To his credit, the future Hall of Famer did, striking out Nats right fielder Adam Eaton on three pitches.

And then the wheels fell off.

On his second pitch of the eighth inning to Anthony Rendon, the Nationals third baseman deposited it over the wall in left-center field to cut the Dodgers (then) 3-1 lead to 3-2. But instead of bringing in a warmed and ready Adam Kolarek to face Nationals left fielder (and Dodgers nemesis) Juan Soto, whom Kolarek had successfully retired in their previous three meetings (two via strikeout), Roberts left Kershaw out there knowing full well that his ace has a propensity for giving up the long ball in his early innings of work.

And he did just that.

On his very first pitch to Soto, a hanging 89-MPH slider, Soto absolutely crushed it for a monster 449-foot solo home run to (very) deep left-center field. Just like that – two consecutive home runs on two consecutive pitches, Kershaw blew the save, thereby erasing Buehler’s NLDS MVP-worthy performance.

Roberts then removed Kershaw (too late) from a position which, quite frankly, he never should have been in, and replaced him with right-hander Kenta Maeda, who does have very good bullpen experience. The 31-year-old Senboku-gun, Japan native promptly struck out the side on 14 pitches.

But the real disaster came when Roberts allowed beleaguered right-hander Joe Kelly, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning, back out to pitch the top of the 10th inning of Game-5 of the win-or-go-home/best-of-five NLDS with the scored tied at three and a well-rested warmed and ready Jansen in his bullpen. Every Dodger fan on the planet knows how that worked out – Kelly loaded the bases and gave up a season-ending (and predictable) grand slam home run to former Dodger Howie Kendrick.

Lo and behold, on Saturday night in Game-4 of the 2019 World Series with the Nationals trailing the Astros by a score of 4-1 in the top of the seventh inning, Nationals manager Dave Martinez borrowed a page from Roberts’ notoriously unsuccessful playbook when he brought in their version of Joe Kelly – 42-year-old / 17-year MLB veteran right-hander Fernando Rodney – with one out and runners on first and second. On his third pitch, Astros left fielder Michael Brantley lined a single to center to load the bases for Astros third baseman Alex Bregman.

Rather than pulling a clearly ineffective Rodney, Martinez allowed him to pitch to Bregman, who had already homered once in the series. On his second pitch to Bregman, the 25-year-old Albuquerque, NM native laced Rodney’s 92-MPH fastball over the left field wall for a Joe Kelly-esque (and predictable) grand slam home run to make it an 8-1 ballgame and final score. It also knotted the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

To be fair and just as the case was for the Dodgers in the Division Series, the Nationals offense was pretty much nonexistent on the night. In fact, they were a collective 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. But still, a 4-1 deficit is a bit easier to overcome than an 8-1 deficit.

Ironically, and with the series now tied at two games apiece, all four games thus far have been won by the visiting team – the first two by the Nationals at Minute Maid Park in Houston, and the second two by the Astros at Nationals Park in our nation’s capital. As a result and with their win on Saturday night, the Astros have guaranteed at least a Game-6 back home. In other words, the 2019 Fall Classic will now be won – and lost – in Houston.

Play Ball!

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