Can Dodgers stop Nationals from running wild?

LOS ANGELES — If the Dodgers need a reminder of how important baserunning can be in the postseason, they need only look at the man on the top step of their dugout.

Manager Dave Roberts will forever hold a spot in baseball history as the player who pulled off “The Steal,” a swipe that everyone saw coming and he still pulled off, leading to a game-tying and series-saving run for the Red Sox off Mariano Rivera in their legendary 2004 World Series run.

“It’s an exciting time. People remember great moments and they remember great teams,” Roberts said Wednesday, two days before his Dodgers open the National League Division Series against the Nationals (Friday, 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT on FS1). “Every postseason is different, every team is different, but this is what you play for.”

Now as a manager, Roberts might be on the other side of the equation, facing down a team that has run often, run well, and has a young player maybe even faster than he was in his prime.

Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 7 5:30 p.m. LAD @ WSH FS1 Gm 2 Oct. 8 4 p.m. LAD @ WSH FS1 Gm 3 Oct. 10 TBD WAS @ LAD FS1 / MLBN *Gm 4 Oct. 11 TBD WAS @ LAD FS1 *Gm 5 Oct. 13 TBD LAD @ WSH FS1 *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Dodgers | Nationals • Complete Postseason coverage

As a team, the Nationals ranked fifth in the National League in steals with 121, and third in stolen-base success rate (75.6 percent). And they have Trea Turner, who has 33 stolen bases in just 73 games this season. Give him a few more weeks, and he might have had even more than the Dodgers’ 45 as a team, the third-lowest total in the Major Leagues. Extrapolate it out to 162 games, and you’re talking about 73 stolen bags.

Turner isn’t the Nationals’ only baserunning threat, as Bryce …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com