The Los Angeles Dodgers analytics department must have forgotten to tell Dave Roberts what to do if starter Lance Lynn allowed three home runs in the same inning during Game 3 of the NLDS on Wednesday night.
Roberts was asleep at the wheel as Lynn gave up not one, not two, not three, but four home runs in the bottom of the third inning to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Lynn had retired the Diamondbacks in order to begin the game. He allowed two hits in the second, but got out of the jam without allowing a run. But the wheels completely fell off for Lynn in the third and Roberts was nowhere to be found.
Lynn allowed No. 9 hitter Geraldo Perdomo to homer leading off the bottom of the third. Two batters later, Ketel Marte clobbered a 428-foot home run. Then after getting Tommy Pham out for the second out of the inning, Lynn allowed a home run to Christian Walker to make it 3-0.
At that point, removing Lynn would have been a no-brainer, but Roberts kept his starter in the game. Naturally, Gabe Moreno followed with a home run, giving Arizona a 4-0 lead.
That was the first time in MLB postseason history that a team had hit four home runs in the same inning. Roberts finally pulled Lynn after that and gave the ball to Caleb Ferguson. He was just two home runs too late with the move. That is some criminal mismanagement for a 100-win team that entered Game 3 down 2-0 in the series.
More must-reads: