Rojas in at 2B, Edman moves to CF as Dodgers shake up lineup for G6

TORONTO -- Seeking to spark a scuffling Dodgers offense, manager Dave Roberts shook up his lineup one more time with the season on the line in Game 6 of the World Series on Friday night at Rogers Centre.

Mookie Betts moved down another spot, from third to fourth. Tommy Edman started in center field for the first time this postseason, opening up second base for Miguel Rojas in the nine-hole. The Dodgers are hoping that a change at the bottom of the order can spark something for the top, as leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani has taken only seven plate appearances with runners on during the World Series.

"I think for me, I just really wanted Miggy in there," Roberts said. "He's been a really glue guy for our club this year, and I just feel that having him in the lineup infuses some extra intensity, energy into the lineup. On the defensive side, too."

Here is the full lineup:

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Will Smith, C
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Mookie Betts, SS
5. Teoscar Hernández, RF
6. Max Muncy, 3B
7. Kiké Hernández, LF
8. Tommy Edman, CF
9. Miguel Rojas, 2B

As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. With the Dodgers one loss away from falling short of their title defense, this would certainly qualify.

The last time Betts batted cleanup was Sept. 29, 2017. The Dodgers' shortstop is hitting just 3-for-23 (.130) with no extra-base hits through the first five games of the World Series, and he has been frank about how he's performed.

"I don’t want to speak on anybody else," Betts said after Game 5. "But for myself, I’ve just been terrible."

While Betts has strong career numbers against Blue Jays Game 6 starter Kevin Gausman -- 15-for-49 (.306) with an .869 OPS -- most of that success came when they were facing off more regularly as AL East opponents in 2018 or earlier. Betts went 0-for-3 against Gausman in Game 2.

• Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series Game 6 FAQ

Meanwhile, Edman starts in center field for the first time since Sept. 24. The Dodgers lost a lot of lineup flexibility when a nagging right ankle that landed Edman on the injured list twice this year limited him to playing second base for most of the postseason.

In the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3, Edman played the final five innings in center field out of necessity. He came out of that well enough that he was feasibly an option in center once more, although the Dodgers showed some reluctance to start him there, especially while playing on turf at Rogers Centre.

But an elimination game means that anything is on the table, and giving Rojas a look was worth the risk for the Dodgers. Rojas has not started since NLDS Game 2 in Philadelphia, and he has a .364 on-base percentage in a meager sample of 12 plate appearances.

"[Edman] says the ankle feels good enough to do that, and he's played a lot of center field," Roberts said. "I just felt, again, the net sum of having both those guys in there, that's how we had to construct it, and I feel great about it."