Dave Roberts signed his own walking papers with horrific miscalculation in Game 5

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was in a rough spot in Game 5 of the NLCS against the New York Mets. Jack Flaherty put him there. Roberts just compounded the problem.

Flaherty's velocity was down in the first inning when he gave up a three-run bomb to Pete Alonso. When he took the mound for the second inning, he got out without giving up a round, but the underlying numbers weren't any better. Three fly outs suggested contact was there to be had.

Yet Roberts brought Flaherty back out for the third inning. He promptly walked the first two batters he faced. Still the manager kept him him. When he gave up a double to Starling Marte, Roberts stuck with him. An RBI single? Still in. A Francisco Lindor triple? Still in. Another RBI single? Stuck with him.

The Mets emerged from the third inning with a commanding 8-1 lead and new life in a series they were desperate to extend.

Roberts played right into New York's hands. Why? He wasn't managing to win Game 5, that's why. He was managing to hopefully win Game 6 or 7.

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Dave Roberts went all-in with NLCS gamble, putting his own employment contract in the pot

Let's give Roberts some credit. His decision to leave Flaherty in was tactical. The manager needed his pitcher to eat up innings more than anything. Even if he gave up more runs, keeping the Dodgers bullpen fresh was Roberts' first priority. LA is expected to have a bullpen game on Sunday, so we can all see why.

Here's the problem with that strategy: Winning Game 5 with the help of the bullpen would have made a bullpen game unnecessary.

By giving up on Game 5, Roberts gave up on his own bats. There was nothing he could have done about Flaherty's shaky start. But he could have done something once it was clear he didn't have it. A three-run deficit was not insurmountable, certainly not with Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts leading the way Los Angeles has scored three runs or more in every game this series. They've sent 18 runners across home base in the last two games alone.

And it's not like Mets starter Drew Peterson looked impenetrable. Ohtani and Betts made it on base in the first inning. A wild pitch scored Kiké Hernández in the second. Andy Pages homered in the fourth.

The Dodgers are on offensive powerhouse. Roberts wasn't managing like it on Friday.

Now, Roberts will go into Game 6 with the bullpen game he was trying to protect. But the Mets will have Sean Manaea on the mound against those bullpen arms. If the Dodgers give up that game as well, New York will have all the momentum going into a do-or-die Game 7. After using the bullpen in Game 6, Roberts will be short on high leverage arms in the game that decides who goes to the World Series.

Roberts will get to come to podium and peacock all he wants if the Dodgers win Game 6 and this gamble pays off. But he just gifted the Mets an injection of positivity and belief. No one should be surprised if that comes back to bite him. And he shouldn't be surprised if the Dodgers brass makes him pay for it with his job.