The Los Angeles Dodgers jumped out to an early lead but reliever Brandon Woodruff hit a game-tying home run off Clayton Kershaw to start a comeback for the Milwaukee Brewers and they pulled away for a 6-5 win in Game 1.
Woodruff entering the game initially was a bit of a surprise as Gio Gonzalez gave up just one run — on a homer to Manny Machado — through two innings. After retiring the side in order in the third, Woodruff led off the bottom of the inning with a 407-foot blast.
It marked the first home run in MLB postseason history for a left-handed pitcher off a left-hander.
A base hit and walk put Kershaw in more trouble, and catcher’s interference on Yasmani Grandal loaded the bases with one out. That negated David Freese’s terrific diving catch on line drive for what would have been a second out.
Grandal became the first catcher with two passed balls and two errors in a single postseason game. Hernan Perez’s sacrifice fly tied the game before Kershaw could get through the inning.
The fourth saw more of the same as Kershaw walked Manny Pina to start the inning.
A single to left field left two runners in scoring position as Chris Taylor booted the ball on his attempt to field it. Domingo Santana’s two-run base hit extended the Brewers’ lead to 4-1 and knocked Kershaw out of the game.
He ultimately would be charged for a fifth run when Ryan Madson allowed a two-out RBI single to Ryan Braun. Kershaw’s outing (three-plus innings) marked the shortest of his postseason career, and came on the heels of his longest start in the playoffs.
The lead was enough for the Brewers bullpen to hold but it was not without some stress. Somewhat curiously, Josh Hader threw 46 pitches over three shutout innings, which might rule him out for Game 2 on Saturday.
Machado’s two-run single cut the Brewers’ lead in half in the eighth inning, and Matt Kemp’s RBI base hit put the tying runners on base. Jeremy Jeffress stranded them by striking out pinch-hitter Yasiel Puig.
Corey Knebel walked Joc Pederson with two outs in the ninth, then gave up an RBI triple to Taylor. Knebel worked the high-wire act by striking Justin Turner out on a high fastball.
The difference in the game essentially ended up being Jesus Aguilar’s solo shot in the seventh inning against Julio Urias, who was surprisingly added to the NLCS roster.
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