LOS ANGELES — The mystery is solved – if it ever really was a mystery. Following Game 4 of their National League Division Series on Wednesday night in San Diego and again at Thursday’s workout at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would not name the team’s starting pitcher for Friday’s Game 5. The pitching plan for the winner-take-all game had not been “finalized,” Roberts said Thursday. It might be Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It might be Jack Flaherty. It might be a straight bullpen game as they did in Game 4, he said Wednesday night. “Obviously I’m sure Yoshinobu will be a part of it,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ workout Thursday afternoon. “How we will deploy the relievers around it, if that’s the case, I just don’t know.” He knew a few hours later. The Dodgers announced Thursday night that Game 1 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto would start Game 5. The Padres played no such games. Yu Darvish (who started Game 2) was announced as their starter on Wednesday and answered questions in the interview room Thursday afternoon before the Padres’ workout. Padres manager Mike Shildt was having none of the shell game. “I flipped some coins and I couldn’t get the answer,” Shildt said Thursday when asked who he expected the Dodgers to start in Game 5. “No, I don’t know. Somebody’s going to show up and we’ll be ready for him. I don’t know. At some point, they’re going to have to announce it, but we’re not in any real hurry, quite honestly.” The Dodgers appeared to be playing the same kind of “gamesmanship” that Freddie Freeman admitted to around Game 4. The Dodgers announced a starting lineup for Game 4 with Freeman in it on Wednesday afternoon but scratched him before game time. After the game, the All-Star first baseman said he was never going to play and the maneuver was just “gamesmanship.” “Everybody operates their own club the way they operate it,” Shildt said. “We’re more like Vince Lombardi – power sweep, here it is. Yu Darvish is going to start, here’s our lineup. “Our lineup was pretty good for 10 runs, six runs, five runs. This is who we are and we’re going to compete and execute. If we do that, we’ll shake hands and pop champagne.” Yamamoto, who signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers in December, did not pitch well in his Game 1 start. He gave up five runs, putting the Dodgers in an early hole, and Roberts pulled him after three innings. In three starts against the Padres this season, the 26-year-old right-hander has given up 13 runs in just nine innings. After two of those starts – his MLB debut in South Korea and his postseason debut in this NLDS – there were suspicions that Yamamoto had been tipping his pitches. “I think we’ve cleaned stuff up,” Roberts said. “To their credit, they did a good job scouting and stuff like that. But I think, overall, kind of where Yoshinobu is at, I feel really comfortable. “The Korea start is even hard to really talk about. … It’s just lack of command. When he hasn’t commanded the baseball, he hasn’t been really that good. But when he’s convicted and ripping it and attacking hitters with his pitch mix, he’s as good as anyone. I think that, from Korea to the last one, when you start kind of nibbling and getting behind, that’s when he’s not at his best.” The Dodgers followed Yamamoto’s rough start in Game 1 with six scoreless innings from the bullpen. Eight of those relievers combined for a shutout in their must-win Game 4. Emboldened by that success, Roberts indicated the Dodgers were considering running that same play in Game 5 or delaying Yamamoto’s entry into the game with an opener or two in front of him. “It’s a big part of it,” Roberts said. “Coming off of what they did last night makes everyone feel pretty confident going into Game 5.” Shohei Ohtani wasn’t fooled by the Dodgers’ delayed announcement. When the Dodgers decided to start Yamamoto in Game 1 and not Game 2 against Darvish, Ohtani admitted to being disappointed there would not be a matchup of his fellow Japanese stars. But talking to reporters on Thursday, he seemed to know he wasn’t going to be disappointed again. “Personally, I’m really excited that (Darvish) is going to perhaps be facing Yoshinobu,” he said in Japanese. His interpreter, Will Ireton, added the word “potentially,” an insertion noted by Japanese reporters at the time. INJURY UPDATES Freeman (ankle) went through a limited workout on the field Thursday. After missing Game 4, Roberts said he expects Freeman to be in the lineup for Game 5. “I think Freddie is going to be in there,” Roberts said. “With two days off – he didn’t try to get ready yesterday. He’s feeling better today with treatment. So I just feel like tomorrow he’ll be in there.” Related Articles Los Angeles Dodgers | Shohei Ohtani and Dodgers ready for challenge of Padres’ Yu Darvish in NLDS Game 5 Los Angeles Dodgers | Alexander: Facing elimination, Dodgers impose their will on Padres in Game 4 of NLDS Los Angeles Dodgers | Dodgers force Game 5 in NLDS with bullpen shutout of Padres Los Angeles Dodgers | Bryce Miller: Dodgers reshape NL Division Series with Game 4 rout of Padres Los Angeles Dodgers | Freddie Freeman scratched from Dodgers’ lineup for NLDS Game 4 After the game in San Diego on Wednesday, Freeman said he was still very much “day to day.” “So tomorrow (Thursday) we’ll go through treatment and see how we go,” he said then. Meanwhile, Miguel Rojas (strained adductor muscle) is not expected to play in Game 5. Tommy Edman will start at shortstop, Roberts said. But he wouldn’t say who will replace Edman in center field. Kiké Hernandez is the likely choice. He is 2 for 6 in this series. A career .238 hitter with a .713 OPS during the regular season, Hernandez has hit .276 with an .886 OPS in 74 postseason games. “Obviously you’re managing with urgency because every game is important, the moment is important and Kiké has shown that he gets up for the postseasons,” Roberts said. “That’s self-admitted as well. So just kind of what he’s done, it’s hard to ignore that.”