How manager Dave Roberts helped Dodgers dig deep

TORONTO — It was a recreation that began on Saturday and ended on Sunday, a World Series contest so packed with the uncommon, the historic and the dramatic that it couldn’t presumably be confined to sooner or later.

At 11 innings, it was the longest Game 7 this century, and it equaled the longest in more than a century. It was the first Game 7 that had a ninth-inning home run to tie the rating and the first to characteristic two video reviews that prevented the go-ahead run from scoring.

“It’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever been a part of,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his crew outlasted the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 to win its second straight World Series and end the longest season in franchise historical past, one that started in Japan and ended in Canada.

The victory made the Dodgers the first crew to win back-to-back titles in 25 years and with that championship, Roberts’ third, he handed Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda to turn into the second-most-decorated Dodger manager ever. He now trails only Walter Alston, another Hall of Famer, who received 4 World Series with the crew.

Roberts, however, received his three titles over six seasons, one thing no Dodger skipper has ever completed.

“It’s hard to reconcile that one,” said Roberts, whose jersey from Saturday’s recreation is on its method to Cooperstown, becoming a member of the cap the Hall of Fame requested after last 12 months’s World Series win.

“I’m just really elated and really proud of our team, our guys, the way we fought. We’ve done something that hasn’t been done in decades. There was so many pressure points and how that game could have flipped, and we just kept fighting, and guys stepped up big.”

So did the manager.

Every transfer Roberts made labored, every button he pushed was the best one. Miguel Rojas, beginning for the second time in almost a month, saved the season with a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth while Andy Pages, inserted for defensive functions during the underside of the inning, ran down Ernie Clements’ drive at the wall with the bases loaded to end the risk.

In the 11^th he had Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch around Addison Barger, placing the successful run on base. But that set up the game-ending double play three pitches later.

“Credit to him, man. Every single move he did this postseason was incredible,” said Tyler Glasnow, one of 4 beginning pitchers Roberts used in reduction Saturday. And he had a fifth, Clayton Kershaw, warming up when the sport ended.

Added Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson: “He did some coaching tonight. This was a great manager’s game from him. He’s proven how great a manager he is. He’s a Hall of Famer.”

Roberts requested Yamamoto, who pitched six innings Friday to win Game 6, to throw another 2 2/3 innings in Game 7. It labored; Yamamoto received that recreation too.

“What Yoshi did tonight is unprecedented in modern-day baseball,” said Roberts, who got here into the postgame interview room carrying ski goggles and dripping of champagne. “It just goes down to just trusting your players. It’s nice when you can look down the roster and have 26 guys that you believe in and know that at some point in time their number’s going to be called.”

And Roberts needed all 26 guys. Although the Dodgers gamers wore t-shirts with the slogan “We Rule October” when they mounted a makeshift stage in the middle of the Rogers Centre discipline to have a good time their victory early Sunday, October was only half of it. Their 12 months began in Tokyo in March and ended in Toronto in November, making it the first major league season to start and end exterior the U.S.

“We really extended the season,” Max Muncy, whose eighth-inning homer began the Dodgers’ comeback, said with a grin after the crew’s 179^th recreation in 226 days.

“Look back at the miles that we’ve logged this year,” Roberts said. “We never wavered. It’s a long season and we persevered, and we’re the last team standing.”

That, too, is a credit to Roberts, who has made the playoffs in each of his 10 seasons and went to the World Series 5 occasions, trailing only Alston among Dodger managers. His .621 regular-season successful proportion is best in franchise historical past among managers who labored more than three seasons. And he figures to keep padding those information.

“We’ve put together something pretty special,” said Roberts, who celebrated with his household on the sphere afterward. “I’m proud of the players for the fans, scouting, player development, all the stuff. To do what we’ve done in this span of time is pretty remarkable.

“I guess I’ll let the pundits and all the fans talk about if it’s a dynasty or not. But I’m pretty happy with where we’re at.”

On Sunday morning Glasnow, who missed the playoffs last season with an elbow injury, was fairly comfortable with where he was at as nicely.

“To be a part of the World Series is crazy,” he said, standing just off the infield as blue and gold confetti rained down. “You dream about it as a kid. To live it out, I feel so lucky. This group of guys, I’m so close to everyone. So many good people on this team. It’s just the perfect group of guys.”

The excellent manager, too.

Highlights from the Dodgers’ 5-4 win in 11 innings over the Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series.