Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Explains Odd Moment with Almonte and Vesia

The Dodgers took an early 2-0 lead and it felt the team finally got the best of the Padres. Four innings later everything went south and the Dodgers gave up five straight runs in the seventh inning.

A nightmare for the Dodgers after what had already been such a promising season, but one of the moments of the game was highlighted by a strange substitution from Dave Roberts. After Tommy Kahnle gave up three earned runs, Roberts called for a pitching change and brought in Yency Almonte to take over with a tied ball game.

Almonte went on to give up two more earned runs but was able to record two outs during the process. Almonte went to pitch one more time, pitching a ball and then Roberts decided to bring in Alex Vesia during a 1-0 pitch count.

A very uncharacteristic move, especially during a postseason matchup but Roberts spoke to the media to defend his actions.

Oh, so he was supposed to throw over to get -- at that point in time, I just felt that Alex was there to get the left-hander. We missed a throw-over to buy a little bit of time, so Alex inherited a 1-0 count, and I still liked the matchup right there. Cronenworth put a good swing on the 2-2 pitch.

Of course this was the inning that cost the Dodgers the season and there are many ways fans can point their fingers. The pitching change was strange, but there was a lot that went wrong for the Dodgers at the end of the game.

The Dodgers now have some tough decisions to make heading into the 2023 season.