Dave Roberts sparked MLB's only 3-0 playoff comeback, and he'll try to do it again with Dodgers

The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers are one loss away from elimination. The Dodgers again fell to the MLB-best Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday night (MIL 6, LA 2), giving Milwaukee a comfortable 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Los Angeles is trying to become baseball's first threepeat champion since the 1998-2000 Yankees.

"I think they have more experience. They're really taking great at-bats. They're taking better at-bats than they did last year," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 3 when asked about the difference between this year's Brewers and the Brewers that the Dodgers swept in the NLCS last year. "Their ball-in-play averages, gosh dang, it's got to be .400. When they put the ball in play, it's a hit. They're also slugging, which they didn't do last year. Those are good combos.

"Defensively they're everywhere and making plays, and it's hard for us to certainly create, build innings, and score. Where I thought last year we did a better job of slugging and having those guys play from behind."

Historically, teams that have taken a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven have won 41 of 42 series, with 32 sweeps. The one comeback was, of course, the Red Sox over the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. New York bludgeoned the Red Sox 19-8 in their Game 3 win, then Boston did not lose again the rest of the postseason en route to its first World Series title since 1918.

If the Dodgers are going to become the second team to mount a 3-0 series comeback, they can look into their own dugout for inspiration. Almost 22 years ago to the day, Roberts stole a key base against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4, then scored the game-tying run. Boston won Game 4 in 12 innings.

"It's certainly possible. I've lived it," Roberts said Wednesday when asked about the possibility of coming back from 3-0. "I think the thing is that our guys have been battle-tested, as was that team I was a part of. I think the mindset has to be -- teams have been down before 0-2, 0-3 -- it's just you've got to win tomorrow. It's an elimination game. We've played in a lot of elimination games. We've just got to get a win. We've got to find a way to build some momentum, and it takes all of us."

Here is Roberts' steal and Boston's ninth-inning comeback in Game 4:

"Even with Mo on the mound, and as bleak as things looked, we felt as if we were still in the game," Roberts told MLB.com in 2020.

For the Dodgers to mount a 3-0 comeback (or even just force a Game 5), they have to hit, first and foremost. Los Angeles has yet to hit a home run in the NLCS, and the team has scored seven runs in the three games. The Dodgers are slugging -- slugging -- .187 as a team. They're 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position. The 16 is the telling number there. They're not even creating opportunities.

A comeback will take scoring runs (duh) and likely a signature moment, like Roberts' steal. It doesn't have to be a stolen base. Maybe it's a pitcher escaping a jam with a key strikeout, or a big hit, or a big defensive play. There are lots of ways to have a signature moment in this sport. In 2004, Roberts did it with his legs. Will the Dodgers find a way to do it in Game 4 on Thursday?

"I think they've seen the documentary," Roberts said after the Game 3 loss. "They know it can happen."