I don't blame the Dodgers for blowing it in the 9th. Kenley Jansen is clearly "off" right now, and that might be a long term problem, but he was only missing by a little bit when walking those first two batters, and you don't really expect Chris Owings to hit a home run (even though he did have 12 last year, a career high).

You can't take your highly-paid, highly-respected closer out in that situation, even if you suspect he doesn't have it. Elite closers have egos, which means you have to let them grind through their bad outings, unless they're REALLY bad, in order to keep them happy.

My problem was Roberts' refusal to remove Wilmer Font when it was clear he had nothing left.

Here Font turned in an almost-heroic performance, going 4 scoreless innings against a tough lineup in a hitters' park. Yet he had thrown close to 70 pitches and was clearly out of energy. Dodgers had no more relievers available, hence his long outing.

More importantly, the Dodgers were up 7-6 in the 15th. This wasn't going to be an infinite game. Get 3 outs, and it's over.

At that point, you need to throw in a starter (I'd say Maeda) to finish the job. Push his next start back a bit if necessary. It's worth it to get the W instead of the L. Instead, Roberts left an exhausted Font out there to flail, and he gave up 2 runs quickly to lose it. He could have gone out a hero and scored his first Major League win. Instead, he took the loss, and any confidence gain here was thrown away.

The fact that Jeff Mathis hit the walk-off (he of the .199 career average) speaks volumes.