Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas surprisingly revealed that the Dodgers knew they could win the World Series after Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres.
During the Dodgers’ toughest series of the postseason, against a division rival who had beaten them on multiple occasions over the regular season, the Dodgers realized they had what it took to win it all according to Rojas.
Before that realization, Rojas recalled that the Dodgers did feel doubt when they fell behind 2-1 to the Padres in the NLDS. The Padres just had to win one of the final two games to win the series, whereas the Dodgers would have to win two straight.
“It happens after Game 3 of the NLDS,” Rojas told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain on Dodgers Dougout Live. “… It was a moment where it was a lot of doubt like, ‘Can we do this, facing the Padres, and knowing that we’re going against these guys?’”
Rojas credited Kiké Hernández and the bullpen for leading the Dodgers to the win in Game 4 of the NLDS, which gave them the momentum to win the series and eventually the World Series.
“The bullpen day solidified what they were throughout the whole year … I think that was when we started believing that,” Rojas said. “After we did that in Game 4, there is the belief that you have, like, nobody’s gonna beat us now. There’s no way we’re losing Game 5, regardless of who they got on the mound. No way we’re giving up runs by the bullpen. No way we’re making a mistake on the field. There’s no chance we lose in this series. So that’s when I feel like everything shift in our side.”
The Dodgers went on to win Game 5 of the NLDS. They defeated the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series and the New York Yankees in the World Series for the franchise to win their eighth World Series, and Rojas’ first championship.
“That’s why this team was extra special,” Rojas said. “And I feel like that was a moment when even with the guys who weren’t starting at the beginning, we still got a chance to win a championship.”
