Roberts was so short-handed Monday, he said going to anyone but Knack in the second might have left him without enough pitching to finish the game. The math indeed suggests he would have been left scrambling at some point, even if he went to Knack later. Think about it: Roberts could possibly count on three outs each from five relievers - Brasier, the lefty (Anthony) Banda and righties Evan Phillips, (Michael) Kopech and Blake Treinen.
Of course, no one could have predicted Honeywell's three scoreless innings, which should not be overlooked. It happened, but that was something that couldn't have been counted on - it could have very well been Honeywell who struggled while Knack was good.
And if Knack had thrown 2-3 scoreless innings, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now. Conversely, if the Dodgers' bullpen game plan in Game 4 of the NLDS hadn't worked, we'd be having an entirely different discussion right now.
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