Quirky NLDS schedule could be a benefit for Dodgers bullpen
LA TimesDodgers manager Dave Roberts will have more top relievers available for the NLDS against the Diamondbacks because of multiple days off during the series. This marks the first time in manager Dave Roberts’ eight-year tenure that the Dodgers will have an off day after the first game of a playoff series. “We feel like this puts us in a really good position because 1A and 1B are going to be able to potentially start four of these five games,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said before the series. “I think with the off days, we’re gonna kind of piece it together.” Head-scratcher Kelly, the Diamondbacks right-hander, has a superb 48-43 career record and 3.29 ERA in five seasons but entered Saturday night’s game with an 0-11 mark and 5.49 ERA in 16 starts against the Dodgers, including an Aug. 30 shellacking in which he gave up seven runs and 12 hits in five innings of a 9-1 loss at Chavez Ravine. Whatever analytics or preparation department they have over there, I think they do a really good job of game-planning, and they do a good job as a lineup, one through nine, sticking to that game plan.” Friend and foe Dodgers star Mookie Betts interrupted Lovullo’s news conference on Friday to give his former bench coach in Boston a quick hug, saying, “He raised me in this game.” As Betts walked out, Lovullo said, “Good luck … not really.” Lovullo, the Red Sox bench coach from 2013-16, appreciated the gesture.
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