Roberts lived this before
LA manager knows how to escape hole
LOS ANGELES –- Dave Roberts played along with the Red Sox’ desire to honor a few members of the 2004 Red Sox team before Game 2 of the World Series Wednesday night at Fenway Park. He bounded out of the Dodgers dugout with a smile and a wave to the fans and then a hug to a few ex-teammates before returning to his team — and losing again. It was the most he smiled all night and really throughout the Series. After all, with all the positive attention Roberts has received over the last few years at the helm of the Dodgers, the 2004 team still provided his brightest, shiniest moment in baseball and brought him his only ring in three World Series appearances. Chance No. 2 came last year, when the Dodgers lost to the Astros in seven games. Now, in the middle of his third chance, this time against the Red Sox, a second ring is looking pretty dicey. The Red Sox are up, 2-0, and there is very much a feel afoot similar to 2004, after they clawed back from an 0-3 deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS to win four straight before bulldozing the Cardinals in four games in the World Series. Roberts, whose steal in Game 4 of the ALCS sparked that entire eight-win run, understands the odds are long, but not impossibly long. So, on the eve of Game 3, he expressed eloquently how he will try to help the team understand its plight. “I think it’s something where I have lived it and experienced being down in that situation and still coming back and I think the big takeaway is you can’t win four games in one night,” Roberts said at Dodger Stadium. “So just the focus on one-game-at-a-time mentality. I know it’s easier said than done. But that’s as simply as you can put it, and that’s the best way to go about it. And I know that’s echoed in our clubhouse.” The parallels to what happened 14 years ago are not exact but there are similarities. The most striking is how the Red Sox are playing right now. They really did not struggle in the first two series like they did in 2004, but once the World Series hit they got on a roll just like they are on now, clicking on defense, offense and pitching. They were essentially unstoppable, thanks to the momentum gained from their historic and unforgettable comeback in the ALCS. The Cardinals felt it and they were powerless to stop it. The Dodgers feel it, but Roberts is exerting his powers to stop it, best he can. “As a player in 2004 we definitely felt that, and it began in the ALCS, and there was just a momentum and a feeling and guys are playing well,” Roberts said. “So it just didn’t really matter who we were playing, where we were playing. We were just all kind of synced up.” Roberts recognizes a similar alignment of the stars when he sees it. “Right now on the other side, as far as manager and being down 2-0, I think (tonight) obviously is an important game — we’re at home to stop the momentum,” Roberts added. “I think that they got some big hits when they needed them. But to compare those two Red Sox teams at that point, offensively I think that we were really swinging the bats one through nine then, as I can recall.” Which could be said for the 2018 Red Sox as well, although Roberts has spo- ken after each of the Dodgers’ losses how he thought his pitchers essentially did a good job but just could not stop the timeliest of hits, just as his lineup could not produce the same. Now the home team finds itself in a predicament not so dissimilar to what the Cardinals faced. Of course, the Dodgers are not on the brink yet, but with another loss tonight, they would be tomorrow. At this point, Roberts sees a difference between being near the brink and on the brink. And as long as he is only near that edge, he will attempt to eke every inch of support he can from every source to get the Dodgers back into the Series by slowing down the Red Sox. His Dodgers faced a Game 7 in the World Series a year ago. Even though they could not top the Astros then in that incredibly pressurepacked situation, Roberts would very much like to see them face that pressure again. “Understanding and appreciating that it’s the World Series, it’s still not a do or die like Game 7 (in 2017), it was a do-or-die situation,” Roberts said. “So I know that even just getting back home feels different. It’s going to be exciting (tonight). It’s going to be energetic. “So, a little different but the key is we’ve still got to go out there and play a good baseball game.” A good baseball game is all anyone wants and there have been stretches of a few innings where the teams look evenly matched before the Red Sox start separating themselves. Roberts understands that feeling. If he can only replicate it with his players, he will run with them on their own sprint to history.