Dodgers manager calls out team, demands more ‘intensity’ vs. Padres
The Los Angeles Dodgers (93-63) did not come away from their most recent three-game series against the struggling Colorado Rockies (60-96) looking like the best team in the National League, and their next opponent, the San Diego Padres (90-66), will present a threatening challenge that manager Dave Roberts wants his team to be ready for.
The Dodgers won their three-game set against the Rockies 2-1, but lost one game by a margin of three runs — the largest of the series — and won the tiebreaking series finale with a walk-off home run in the ninth inning, which was impressive and electrifying, but should not have happened in the first place. Now, Roberts wants his troops to come out with a sense of urgency tonight against the Padres.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wants his players to outdo the Padres in crucial series
Per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (via Yahoo Sports), the Dodgers’ leader had this to say about how the Padres have gotten the upper hand over them in the past and how Los Angeles can put that to bed by playing with more intensity than San Diego:
“I think it’s pretty easy to see that when we’ve played them, I think 10 times this year, they came out more intense than we did,” Roberts said. “And that’s got to change. I expect it to change. Playing those guys — in certainly very, very meaningful games — will bring out the best in us.”
