Dodgers' Dave Roberts Makes Honest Roki Sasaki Admission After Game 6

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained his decision to pull reliever Roki Sasaki in favor of Tyler Glasnow during the ninth inning of Game 6 in the World Series.

Sasaki came out of the bullpen for the eighth inning, getting out of the frame cleanly despite some close calls going in the opposite direction. The rookie came back out for the ninth inning, and things didn't quite go his way through the first couple of batters.

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk fell behind in the count before Sasaki plunked him, and seven spot Addison Barger hit a double which may have scored pinch runner Myles Straw had it not gotten stuck at the base of the wall.

With runners on second and third, Roberts went to the bullpen instead of keeping Sasaki in the game.

"Wow, gets 0-2 to Kirk and hits him with a split, and then Barger gets a fastball, a good piece of hitting," Roberts said. "From that point on, for me, I just felt that Roki wasn't as sharp, and I just felt we needed some swing-and-miss and Glasnow was the guy. So I had him loose, kind of looming, and then just the situation, I was -- the pop-up was huge, but I was looking for somebody that can get some swing-and-miss and some kind of elite stuff and that's why I decided to go with Glasnow."

Glasnow proved to be the right choice, as he came in and recorded three outs in just three pitches, forcing Ernie Clement to pop out to the right side of the infield to keep the runners where they were, then getting an extraordinary double play out of Kiké Hernandez and Miguel Rojas to end the game scoreless.

The right-hander's save in Game 6 was the first in his MLB career, and couldn't have come at a bigger moment for LA. The Dodgers' win on Friday forced Game 7 of the World Series, and put the Dodgers on the brink of being the first team to win consecutive World Series in a quarter-century. Game 7 of the World Series comes on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. PT.

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