Mike Shildt Takes Another Jab at Dave Roberts, Dodgers Ahead of Game 5

The drama is neverending between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres.

San Diego manager Mike Shildt took it up a notch on Thursday and took another jab at Dodgers manager Dave Roberts when he was asked about his starting lineup for Game 5.

“Everybody operates their own club the way they operate it,” Shildt said . “We’re more like Vince Lombardi, power sweep, here it is. Yu Darvish is going to start, here’s our lineup.”

Shildt is mostly referring to the Dodgers’ choice to not announce a starting pitcher ahead of Games 4 or 5 — although they did finally announce Yoshinobu Yamamoto Thursday night.

The season has come down to one game for both teams and the winner has a date with the New York Mets for the National League pennant.

“I’m already excited for Friday,” Shildt said after the Padres’ 8-0 loss to the Dodgers in Game 4. “How fun is that going to be? Missed opportunity, chance to close it out. Didn’t. Move on. Play Game 5. Winner take it.”

The Dodgers will have to do something only a few have done since the All-Star break — beat the Padres in back-to-back games. That has only happened three times since the Midsummer Classic.

San Diego is ready for the challenge.

“You play a regular-season baseball game, specifically one that we play our baseball, and we play it tomorrow, and you can’t beat us,” rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill said. “We play the right brand of baseball and the way we usually play. I haven’t seen the team that can beat us on that day. … Regardless of what day it is. It could be the birth of more baseball, it could be the end of the season, and at the end of the day we’ll reflect on what happens. That’s our identity. We treat every game like a postseason game, so we’re already used to it.”

Shildt began introducing a Game 5 or Game 7 mentality in spring training, getting his team ready for a moment like this. If the Padres play their game, they are confident they can eliminate the Dodgers on their home field.

“Here’s the part I’m excited about for this group: We’ve done that the whole season,” Shildt said . “We treated the whole season (as if every game was big) for this moment. We don’t need to feel like, ‘Oh my gosh.” Because in everything there is attention to detail. Everything is important. Everything matters. We normalize that. … We just go play, just go execute.”

Photo Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

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