After hearing discussions about him no longer being the ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers anymore, Clayton Kershaw went out and tossed a gem Friday night in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
For the first time in his postseason career, Kershaw pitched into the eighth inning, limiting the Atlanta Braves to just two hits in eight shutout innings, striking out three without allowing a walk in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win.
Kershaw was only at 85 pitches after his eighth inning of work, but manager Dave Roberts decided that was enough and sent out Kenley Jansen to close out the victory.
The left-hander originally went out for the ninth and warmed up, but when the Braves announced a right-handed pinch-hitter in Tyler Flowers, Roberts went and got Kershaw.
“Not a whole lot,” Roberts said when asked if he any consideration was given to allowing the three-time Cy Young Award winner to throw a complete game.
“You know, he took a ball I think in the sixth inning maybe, off the hamstring, and so as the game progressed, it continued to tighten up a little bit. And so for me, obviously he had really good stuff, but then as you get to the sixth, the seventh and the eighth inning, and understanding that the potential that it is tightening up, I felt we had a pretty good option in Kenley back there.”
Kershaw had started Game 1 of the NLDS the last five postseasons’ for the Dodgers, but this year they decided to switch it up and pitch Hyun-Jin Ryu in Game 1 so both could get an extra day of rest.
Many also thought that Kershaw’s decline also played into that decision, although that was not the case. Roberts was impressed that Kershaw was able to drown out those discussions though and pitch one of the best games of his career.
“It is impressive. It’s not a surprise. This guy is a potential Hall of Fame player. So to have the noise around him — but when it comes to his day to start and to help his ballclub win a game, I had no concern that anything was going to affect him,” Roberts explained.
“And our decision, I think there was — a lot was made of it, but I think that I feel good, we feel good that we put both those guys in the best position to pitch well.”
The club’s decision to go with Kershaw in Game 2 obviously proved to be a good one with him and Ryu combining to toss 15 shutout innings in their respective outings. Atlanta now has to worry about facing hard-throwing righty Walker Buehler in Game 3 to avoid being swept.
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