NEW YORK (AP) — All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman is out of the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The fourth match of the National League Championship Against the New York Mets.
Freeman had been playing with a severely sprained and swollen right ankle throughout the postseason. He also missed Game 4 of the tournament Division series In San Diego with Los Angeles facing elimination.
Even without Freeman, the Dodgers cruised to a 10-2 win over New York that gave them a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series and put them one win away from their 25th pennant — the most in National League history.
“I feel really good. We’re just trying to manage it,” Freeman said after the game. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”
Hours earlier, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said resting Freeman was “the right decision.”
“He’s obviously sick and doing everything he can to stay on the field. With the back-to-back games and the game tomorrow, I’m just trying to make a decision that puts him in the best position for the upcoming games,” Roberts explained on Thursday evening.
“And tonight just seemed easy. Obviously he wants to be out there. But him not being in the starting lineup, getting on and off the field, getting ready for a big game tonight, made a lot of sense.”
Roberts indicated he might use Freeman as a hitter in an important situation, but that never became necessary. He said he called the player after Wednesday night’s win to give him a heads up so he could take full advantage of knowing he would be rested.
“He asked me if he was sitting on the bench. That’s one thing. He’s not offering days off,” Roberts said, drawing some chuckles from reporters.
“I know how much he struggles to stay on the field. So I think he understood that it was in his best interest not to start tonight’s game. But he handled it like a professional.”
Freeman was undergoing hours of pre-game therapy every day just to get ready to play.
“I don’t think my respect could be more for Freddie. To be quite honest, there’s a lot going into this. But I don’t really care to know all the details,” Roberts said. “I just want to know whether he’s in there or not, with Knowing he is in good hands with our coaching staff. But what it takes to prepare for a football match these days is a huge task.
Los Angeles holds a 2-1 lead in the NFL’s best-of-seven games heading into Thursday night’s game at Citi Field. With the Mets starting veteran left-hander José Quintana, the Dodgers moved Max Muncy from third base to first and Kiké Hernández from center field to third base.
Rookie outfielder Andy Baggs, a right-handed hitter, was scheduled to start in center, hitting the eighth. Pages also played center field in Game 2 against left-hander Sean Manaea.
Teoscar Hernandez moved into Freeman’s usual third position in the standings. Switch-hitter Tommy Edman homered for the third time in his career — all since Aug. 29 with the Dodgers.
Edman doubled twice and drove in three runs, giving him seven RBIs in the NLCS. He has a .726 career OPS and has never had more than 13 homers or 57 RBIs in any of his six major league seasons. But he’s batting .324 in the postseason and is 7-for-17 (.412) in the NLCS.
Chris Taylor was at second base, batting ninth, in place of Gavin Lux — the left-handed hitter who missed the second game with a right hip flexor injury. Lux returned in Game 3 against right-hander Luis Severino and finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout, never working the ball past the pitcher.
“I think it was a combination. He had some starts versus left-handed pitching. Quintana was pretty tough on left-handers, putting them on the ground, strikeout rates and things like that. That’s part of it,” Roberts said of Lux. Also with the leg, I try to give him an extra day to recover, but also make him available if needed late.”
The 35-year-old Freeman, a .300 career hitter in 15 major league seasons, sprained his ankle while running across first base against the Padres during the final week of the regular season. An eight-time All-Star and 2020 NL Player of the Year with Atlanta, he is 7-for-27 (.259) with one RBI and no extra-base hits during the National League playoffs.
“He’s in a lot of pain out there. You can see it when he’s running and all that. But he inspires us as players, as a teammate. He’s willing to put his body on the line,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “It’s impressive. Makes us go. We love when he’s there. He’s been swinging well for us. Unfortunately he wasn’t there today, but I know he’ll be back there tomorrow.
New York also changed the lineup, starting Harrison Bader in center field over Tyrone Taylor.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza explained that Bader had three “really good at-bats” against the Dodgers’ Game 4 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto Back in April.
Taylor was batting .138 (4-for-29) in the postseason with two doubles, three walks and eight strikeouts. He made a stunning catch on the warning track to right-center to limit Edman to a sacrifice fly early in Game 3.
“Taylor is a very good defender. Bader is an elite defender,” Mendoza said. “Again, only three at bats, but I don’t think anyone had that much of a sample size against Yamamoto. We’ve only encountered him once. So I decided to go with him.”
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