Watch: Dave Roberts Trips and Face-Plants into Dirt During Footrace Before Game 6 Against Blue Jays

Roberts was a speedster during his playing days. He has 243 stolen bases in his MLB career, including that one important steal in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

His steal in the bottom of the 9th inning proved to be an important one as he later came around to score and tie the game. The Red Sox won that game in the 14th inning and went on to complete an improbable comeback from 3-0 down and win the ALCS 4-3.

The Japanese-American international will be hoping for a similar type of comeback from his team now. As per stats, in the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 5 and returning home for Games 6 and 7 have won the series 20 out of 27 times (74.1%).

Dave Roberts speaks on team’s mindset ahead of Game 6

It’s a do-or-die situation for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6. A loss on Friday will bring their season to an end and see them fail to repeat as World Series Champions. Ahead of this massive showdown against the Toronto Blue Jays, Dave Roberts spoke on the mindset of the team.

This Game 6 will be the first time this year that the Dodgers have their backs against the wall. They first swept the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Series before knocking out the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series (NLDS).

They took a 2-0 lead against the Phillies and then defeated them in Game 4 to reach the National League Championship Series (NLCS). In this best-of-seven series for the NL pennant, they swept the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays have had to work hard to reach this stage. They fell 2-0 and 3-2 down in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Seattle Mariners. However, they managed to overcome the odds and emerged as the winners.

Game 6 will be the first do-or-die situation for the Dodgers since Game 4 of the NLDS last season against the San Diego Padres. They fell 2-1 down in the best-of-five series and were on the brink of elimination. Victories in Games 4 and 5 saw them complete a comeback and advance.

Speaking with the reporters before their showdown on Friday, Dave Roberts pointed out the experience of his team in playoff situations and termed the matchup as “war.”

It’s fight or flight. It’s whatever adage or saying you want to come and leave it all out there. It’s certainly not war. I am not trying to compare that to war, but in our world, small world of baseball, it is war. And that’s for me is mindset.

Dave Roberts told the reporters

The Dodgers will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto as their starter in Game 6 . The Japanese international will enter this game on the back of two successive complete games. A similar performance from him could help his side enforce the first World Series Game 7 in MLB since 2019, when the Washington Nationals came back from 3-2 down to stun the Houston Astros.