SAN FRANCISCO — On Friday night, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts issued his hitters a challenge: Shape up.
Los Angeles had just dropped the first game of the National League Division Series to the Giants in dispiriting fashion. The Dodgers saw just 103 pitches, their fewest in nine innings since 2015. They struck out 11 times and did not draw a walk. They looked utterly overmatched.
Roberts did not call a team meeting to address the feeble performance. But the cheerful man who generally projects optimism whether or not it is warranted took a seat for his postgame press conference and lit his team up.