Roberts: Dodgers could run 'same playbook' with bullpen in Game 5

Dave Roberts might go back to the well after the Los Angeles Dodgers used a bullpen game to shut out the San Diego Padres 8-0 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday.

"I think that we could run the same playbook back and run a bullpen game," Roberts said when asked about a Game 5 starter, according to The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.

Eight Dodgers relievers combined to allow zero runs, seven hits, and two walks against a Padres offense that came in with 21 runs scored in the first three games of the series.

L.A.'s game plan Wednesday seemingly unsettled Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill.

"I think that's one of the most annoying things," Merrill said of facing a new pitcher every inning, according to MLB.com's Juan Toribio. "It kind of brings you back to spring training. You face one guy, and then it's a new guy every time."

Roberts also mentioned Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as potential starting options for Friday's do-or-die contest at Dodger Stadium. Neither fared well in their previous starts in the series, with the pair combining to allow nine earned runs over 8 1/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers' bullpen owns a combined 2.66 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 20 1/3 postseason innings.

"I think all of us are confident down there," right-hander Daniel Hudson said.

"If that's the decision that they want to go with, everyone is going to come in tomorrow and get some good work in, get some good recovery in. If that's what we do, that's how we'll roll it."