Dave Roberts' complicated season continues thanks to Mother Nature

If Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spent the entirety of Wednesday’s rain delays bouncing his head off his desk, we wouldn’t blame the poor guy. Once again, the rookie skipper was forced into a tough decision in the midst of a potentially historic outing.

This time, the pitcher was ace Clayton Kershaw, who in his second start off the disabled list was pitching a perfect game at Yankee Stadium. Then the rains came, twice, forcing delays in the middle of the fourth and fifth inning that totaled 60 minutes.

Unlike the first two instances though, which were strictly manager’s decisions and not impacted by weather, Roberts actually allowed Kershaw to continue with his perfect game intact through four innings. But it was all for naught his bid was broken up by an error and a Chase Headley single to begin the fifth inning.

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Torturous is about the only word that would describe these circumstances for Roberts. However, unlike when he removed rookie Ross Stripling 22 outs into a no-hitter in his MLB debut, or this weekend when he pulled Rich Hill after seven perfect innings, he likely would have been met with more acceptance had he actually elected to remove Kershaw.

Given Kershaw’s back condition — he’s returning from a herniated disk — the amount of perceived inactivity and also the field conditions, fans might have understood the logic. Now though, they might actually be questioning Roberts’ consistency after allowing his most important pitching asset to continue twice.

Here’s the thing though. Both Roberts and Kershaw did have a plan that allowed Kershaw to continue in the fifth inning at least, but undoubtedly would have prevented him from completing the outing.

So Kershaw did stay loose, which is critical for his back. By all accounts, he’s no worse for the wear following his outing. He clearly wasn’t as sharp following the second restart, but that only served to remove the real pressure from Roberts later in the game.

The Dodgers would go on to win the game 2-0, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the ninth inning.

All’s well that ends well, as the old saying goes, but Roberts is learning quicker than any other first-time manager that his job will never be a walk in the park. Complications can arise at any moment, and they often present challenges even the best skippers aren’t prepared for.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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