The Los Angeles Dodgers touted Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw both as deserving aces to start Game 1 of the National League Division Series, and in the end they turned in similar outings against the San Diego Padres.
One night after Urías allowed three runs and completed just five innings, Kershaw matched that as well. The left-handers collected six strikeouts each as well. But for Kershaw, pitching five innings appeared unlikely at one point.
“It was huge to get him through five,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the 5-3 loss. “Allowed us to stay away from some guys. Now it’s a best-of-three series.
“I just felt that he wasn’t sharp. I thought it was a grind all night for him. Missing just a little bit with the fastball. The slider, couldn’t have feel for it until probably that fourth, fifth inning, and there were some other decent ones before that.
“The curveball didn’t really have feel for. So he was just out there in compete mode trying to weather the storm and try to get some outs. For him to put up a couple of zeros in the fourth and fifth innings, so not to completely spell the ‘pen, was big.”
Kershaw largely agreed with Roberts’ assessment, noting, “I definitely had some traffic all day. It could have been a lot worse, for sure. I think there’s a lot of traffic all day. I had to make some pitches. Had to pitch out of jams basically every inning, but there’s a few mistakes in there that got hit hard, obviously.
“The homer to Manny (Machado) was a mistake, and the two-strike hit that (Jurickson) Profar got there was a mistake. Then I left a slider up to (Juan) Soto too that he got a hit on. I definitely made some mistakes that they made me pay for. I would like to have a few pitches back, but it definitely could have been worse, for sure.”
Kershaw didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the fourth, but he retired the final eight batters faced and exited with the game tied. Kershaw escaped trouble on multiple occasions, buoyed by a slider that he believed was more effective than Roberts’ viewpoint.
“That’s how I got out of the jams,” Kershaw said of his slider. “I threw some good sliders there to strike some guys out. I mean, I left the one up to Manny, but if I throw it where I’m supposed to, I think I get him. Definitely had a few sprays in there, a few misses.
“I think it was more the curveball. I think I bounced a few curveballs, and then when I did throw for a strike, Manny got the hit behind the count. I usually don’t throw curveballs behind the count, and that was impressive. And then Wil Myers too with the curveball base hit, I didn’t expect that either. That was a little bit unanticipated, I guess.”
Will Clayton Kershaw pitch on short rest?
As the Dodgers evaluated who would start Game 1 of the NLDS, one factor was weighing which pitcher would be in the best position to start a potential Game 5.
Because an off day was eliminated, Kershaw would be pitching on three days’ rest if part of the Dodgers’ plans in a potential Game 5.
“I think everybody will be ready,” he answered when asked about the possibility. “Hopefully we don’t get there, but I think everybody will be ready for that.”
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