NEW YORK —
Before the sun had even set in Queens on Friday night, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts faced a dilemma.
It was the third inning of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. His club was facing an early, but hardly insurmountable, two-run deficit. And with starting pitcher Jack Flaherty lacking both command and fastball velocity, Roberts had three fraught options before him.
1. Stick with Flaherty, and hope he could settle down.
2. Summon a lower-leverage arm like Brent Honeywell Jr. or Landon Knack (or at least have them warming up if things got dire), and hope they could hold the deficit.