Dodgers' Dave Roberts Called Out for Questionable Blake Treinen Decision

Dodger fans collectively held their breath when Blake Treinen took the mound in the ninth inning of NLDS Game 2.

The Dodgers held a 4-1 lead and needed to make it through the ninth. Treinen had struggled to do that all season.

Unfortunately for Treinen, his struggles continued.

The first batter he faced singled to center. The next doubled to left. All of a sudden, the tying run was at the plate.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, they weren't victims of an untimely bomb from Nick Castellanos, but he did hit a double for Treinen's third straight hit allowed that brought the Phillies' deficit down to just one run.

After Treinen was pulled, Alex Vesia allowed two hits of his own (but got some help from his defense) and the Phillies had a man on first and a man on third with two outs down one run.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had seen enough, sending in rookie phenom Roki Sasaki, who has been unhittable over his last five outings — including Monday night.

For some, the fact that Roberts waited until the ninth inning got to such a dire situation to bring in Sasaki was a surprise. Sasaki had been warming up earlier in the game, meaning he would have theoretically been ready to pitch at the start of the ninth inning had he got back up.

"Any pitcher that I've ever talked to, it's just as taxing on their bodies — the up and downs — as it is for them to just go in the game," former MLB outfielder Chris Young said on MLB Now. "So, if I see Sasaki warming up in the bullpen and the situation presents itself to where you're up by three runs. I'm assuming, okay, maybe if the Dodgers score a couple more runs, maybe we have somebody else on deck that we'll bring in, maybe that's when Treinen gets his opportunity.

"But in a save situation where Sasaki has proven that the bright lights aren't getting to him and he has clearly made some type of adjustment to where he looks absolutely unhittable right now, I can't make it make sense in my mind on choosing that spot to be the spot where we're going to trust [Treinen]."