Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals has all the makings of a pitchers’ duel. So that certainly didn’t stop Nationals manager Dusty Baker from resorting to a little gamesmanship, with Clayton Kershaw the target.
“I know he’s tough to hit and he’s tough to run on,” Baker said during his pregame press conference on Friday. “Quite frankly, I’m hoping we get some baserunners and the umpires might call a balk or two on him, because he kind of rolls through the set position, which they don’t call.
“But I heard that really upsets him if they do call one. So I’m hoping they call maybe a couple of them.” Baker said he would not speak with umpires over the matter, as it’s a duty handled by first base coach Davey Lopes.
Lopes coached first base for the Dodgers from 2011-15, and held the same position with the Nationals under then-manager Frank Robinson in 2006.
When informed of Baker’s comments, Roberts responded, “I didn’t know he wanted to play that game,” with a smile. “To the extent of how much it works, I don’t think it does.”
Roberts proceeded to name a handful of Nationals pitchers when asked who he believed umpires should keep an eye on.
Kershaw was called for career high-tying three balks (also in 2015) this season, and he reacted with varying levels of outward disagreement each time. From 2012-14, Kershaw was called for two balks every season.
Getting men on base against Kershaw figures to be a challenge in and of itself for the Nationals. He’s a career 10-2 with a 2.02 ERA, 104 strikeouts and 17 walks over 89 innings pitched across 14 games (13 starts) against Washington.
This season, the three-time Cy Young Award winner held the Nationals to one run on six hits and had eight strikeouts in eight innings the lone time facing them.
Overall this season, Kershaw went 12-4 with a 1.69 ERA, 172 strikeouts and 11 walks.
