The Dodgers had a chance right out of the starting gates Friday to get on the board in Game 5 of the NLCS.
And with Shohei Ohtani at third with nobody out, it seemed like a cinch.
But then the superstar didn’t run when he probably should have — and the Dodgers were kept off the board.
And manager Dave Roberts was brutally honest about how he felt about Ohtani’s decision.
With runners at second and third and nobody out in the first inning against Mets starter David Peterson, Teoscar Hernandez hit a grounder to shortstop Francisco Lindor — who was playing at normal deep depth, which would have conceded a run.
But Ohtani froze at third and did not score.
Two batters later, the Mets escaped trouble and kept the Dodgers off the board.
In the top of the third inning, Fox’s Ken Rosenthal interviewed Roberts inside the visitor dugout, and Roberts seemed surprised that Ohtani did not trot home with the game’s first run.
“Yeah I don’t know, it was corners in right there, ball to the middle of the field. I think he just had a brain cramp and locked up right there,” Roberts said. “They kinda built momentum and hopefully we can weather that.”
The Mets responded in the bottom of the first with a three-run homer from Alonso, though the Dodgers scored one run in the second to make it 3-1.
The Mets then scored five runs in the bottom of the third to break the game open.