Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explains key decisions in Game 3 loss to Brewers

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts discussed the pivotal moments of Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers, a contest that concluded with a 3-2 loss and eliminated Los Angeles from the postseason.

In the third and fifth innings, with Tommy Edman at the plate and Miguel Rojas on first, Roberts chose not to order a sacrifice bunt, preferring to give Edman a chance to drive in a run. "I just didn’t feel like giving up an out right there. … We could have bunted, but I felt I wanted to give Tommy an opportunity to drive in a run," Roberts said. Both at-bats resulted in fly outs, and the Dodgers remained scoreless.

In the sixth inning, after Abner Uribe walked two batters, Roberts brought in left-handed first baseman Max Muncy to face a right-handed hitter, aiming to avoid a double play and keep the inning alive. "Muncy’s not starting, and you want to fire that bullet in a leverage spot," Roberts explained. Muncy struck out.

Later, after Shohei Ohtani walked to load the bases and Will Smith delivered a two-run double, Roberts opted for left-handed pinch-hitter Josue De Paula against right-handed Rojas. When the Brewers countered with left-handed reliever DL Hall, Roberts switched to right-handed Kiké Hernández, citing Hernández’s experience. Both Hernández and Edman struck out, ending the inning without further runs.

With the Dodgers leading 2-1 in the seventh, Roberts left left-handed starter Blake Snell in the game despite a high pitch count, trusting his recent performance. "His stuff was really good. I don’t think they were seeing him well," Roberts said. Snell issued a walk to Andrew Vaughn, then surrendered a home run to Jake Bauers, giving Milwaukee a 3-2 lead. Roberts noted that Snell had not allowed a home run all season before the blast.

Roberts concluded that the decisions were based on the information and matchups available at each moment, though the outcomes did not favor the Dodgers.