"Was Edgardo Henriquez the best option to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the seventh inning with two outs and runners on the corners? Maybe, maybe not. And that was the problem. The problem was that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't have a choice that was clearly better than to place the game in the hands of a hard-throwing but unreliable 23-year-old rookie."
"Henriquez walked Guerrero on a 99.9-mph fastball that sailed into the opposite batter's box, evading the grasp of catcher Will Smith and allowing Addison Barger to score. A manageable two-run deficit was now three and about to become four. The Dodgers were on their way to a 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, the Game 5 result placing them at a three-games-to-two deficit in this World Series."
"For Roberts, that seventh inning didn't represent a manager's nightmare. That was a manager's night terror. Stick with starting pitcher Blake Snell? Snell had already pitched to Guerrero three times and his pitch count was at 116. Use closer Roki Sasaki as a fireman? He's their only dependable reliever and Roberts wasn't about to use him in a non-elimination game in which his team was down."
Rookie reliever Edgardo Henriquez's wild pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. allowed Addison Barger to score and expanded a manageable deficit into a decisive gap. The Dodgers lost Game 5 to the Blue Jays 6-1 and fell behind three games to two in the World Series. Manager Dave Roberts faced constrained choices after starter Blake Snell reached a 116-pitch count and closer Roki Sasaki was preserved. The bullpen's postseason failures trace partly to front-office moves, including about $85 million spent on relievers who are not on the World Series roster. Consideration of using starter Shohei Ohtani in relief for a potential Game 7 arose.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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