Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw stood on the mound in the angled October sun, at once alone and the embodiment of the Dodgers’ postseason fate.
Tag: Clayton Kershaw (Page 4 of 36)
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
NLDS Game 4
Nationals at Dodgers, 1:08 p.m.
Nationals at Dodgers, 1:08 p.m.
Nationals
Trea Turner, CF
Bryce Harper, RF
Jayson Werth, LF
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Anthony Rendon, 3B
Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
Danny Espinosa, SS
Pedro Severino, C
Joe Ross, P
Trea Turner, CF
Bryce Harper, RF
Jayson Werth, LF
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Anthony Rendon, 3B
Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
Danny Espinosa, SS
Pedro Severino, C
Joe Ross, P
Dodgers
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Josh Reddick, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andrew Toles, LF
Clayton Kershaw, P
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Josh Reddick, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andrew Toles, LF
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
Two critical factors in favor of Julio Urías starting today’s Game 4 of the National League Division Series fell away Monday.
No. 1 was that the Dodgers lost, making today’s game an elimination game. No. 2 was that the Dodger bullpen, already on its heels after Saturday’s postponement and Sunday’s 3 2/3 innings, was forced to throw 131 pitches Monday after Kenta Maeda’s fourth-inning exit.
Whatever you might speculate about Clayton Kershaw’s durability at this point, his typical outing is longer than a typical outing for the 20-year-old Urías. With that in mind, the Dodgers decided to put their best pitcher out there today.
One whom, it must be added, has actually thrived on three days’ rest, with a 1.89 ERA in 19 such innings over three starts.
“With Clayton, we had complete certainty from the training staff (and) doctors that health wasn’t a factor,” Dave Roberts said. “Obviously, it’s a game we need to win. One, Clayton gives us the best chance to win, and two, he gives us the best chance to go deeper into a game.”
Basically, the Dodgers need to play 18 innings of winning baseball over the next three days. The Dodgers will start attacking those innings with Kershaw, and then use the remaining 10 pitchers on their staff (except, one supposes, for Kenta Maeda) to cover the rest.
By Jon Weisman
For the cover story of the postseason issue of Dodger Insider magazine, Jake Arrieta, Madison Bumgarner, Cole Hamels, Stephen Strasburg, Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, Buster Posey and Paul Goldschmidt gave Cary Osborne their first-hand, All-Star opinions of what makes Clayton Kershaw such a unique talent.
“As of right now, I think everybody that’s playing this game is getting a chance to see possibly the best pitcher to ever play this game,” said Bumgarner.
Read the entire story by clicking here.
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By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw will take the mound for the Dodgers in their win-or-stay-home Game 4 of the National League Division Series against Washington, today at 2:05 p.m.
Over the past three postseasons, Kershaw has made three starts on three days’ rest, totaling 19 innings, with a 1.89 ERA and 23 strikeouts against four walks.
In NLDS Game 1 on Friday, Kershaw allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk in five innings, with seven strikeouts.
The decision leaves Julio Urías to start a potential Game 5 on the road in Washington on Thursday, though essentially, every Dodger pitcher is on call for every inning from this point forward. For a rundown on their workloads from the previous two days, click here.
Joe Ross has been announced as the starter for Washington. The 23-year-old, second-year right-hander had 3.43 ERA in 19 starts this year.
Ross allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings at Dodger Stadium on June 22, in a game the Dodgers won in the ninth on Yasiel Puig’s Little League home run. He has pitched only 9 2/3 innings since July 2, having missed 2½ months with right shoulder inflammation until late September.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw, as you would expect, was much happier about Friday’s NLDS Game 1 victory than if he had “pitched a shutout for seven innings and we hadn’t won,” as Mark Whicker of the Register captured.
“It was a grind,” Kershaw added, according to A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com. “A lot of guys on base all the time. It definitely wasn’t easy. It was definitely as close as you can bend without breaking.”
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw didn’t have his best stuff, not by a longshot. But he had some of his best guile, some his best perseverance and all of his best bullpen.
With four Dodger relievers throwing four shutout innings, the Dodgers survived a nail-biting, seat-squirming Game 1 in the National League Division Series, edging the Washington Nationals, 4-3.
Kershaw lasted five innings, punching out seven batters but bobbing and weaving through three runs on nine baserunners. Joe Blanton, Grant Dayton, Pedro Báez and Kenley Jansen worked the back end, to make a Dodger offense led by homers by Corey Seager and Justin Turner stand up.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
A day ahead of his National League Division Series start, a smiling Clayton Kershaw looked relaxed at his Q&A with reporters — and admitted he’s feeling more relaxed as well.
He owes that relative levity to the all-hands-on-deck Dodgers, who showed in 2016 that they can win even with their ace sidelined from late June until September with a herniated disk. Calling this the “most complete” team he has been on, Kershaw said he doesn’t feel he needs to carry the Dodgers by himself.
“I think in the past I’ve definitely felt that pressure more,” Kershaw said, heading into his fourth straight postseason and the sixth of his career. “But this year’s been a little bit different for me, just as far as having to watch on the sidelines for two months (and) understanding how good our team is. … I think it’s really kind of hit home for me a little bit, as I’ve come back, that I can definitely be a part of this and definitely help and definitely be a factor in winning — but I don’t have to be the factor.
“Obviously I have a job to do and I understand that,” he added, “but … we’re such a team that I feel like I can rely on those guys and, likewise, they can rely on me. It’s just a different feeling than I’ve had in the past.”
As usual, questions about whether Kershaw will start a potential Game 4 on three days’ rest have begun before he has even thrown his first Game 1 pitch. Among the follow-ups: Did the time off to rest his back deliver a side benefit of resting his arm?
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Tomorrow really is just a day away. Friday’s opening game of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Nationals comes in about 24 hours, depending on when exactly you’re reading this.
Here’s what been percolating …
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Hi — welcome to our annual attempt to kill the myth that Clayton Kershaw always fails in the postseason.
Last year, Kershaw pitched 13 2/3 innings in the National League Division Series with a 2.63 ERA, losing a 3-1 decision in Game 1 before winning Game 4 by the same score on three days’ rest.
In eight playoff starts since 2013, Kershaw has six quality starts — including all three times he has pitched on three days’ rest — and allowed one earned run or less in four of the eight.
We covered this ground already this year, but this seems like the right time for a reminder. What follows is from our May 24 piece: Postseason Kershaw: Do you remember only the bad, or also the good?
By Jon Weisman
Eight years, six months and 23 days ago, Vin Scully called a Clayton Kershaw inning for the first time. It was Spring Training — a meaningless day — that linked the artist of this generation to the artist of all generations.
Scully and Kershaw teamed up for the last time this afternoon in San Francisco. For Dodger fans, the result was not storybook like Vin’s last game in Los Angeles, but there’s no such thing as a bad story when Vin is behind the mic.
“It really is, when you think about it, a David and Goliath game: Clayton Kershaw against a young pitcher starting out,” Vin said, and on some level, I’m guessing the broadcaster didn’t mind terribly that David won.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, Rich Hill and Justin Turner are finalists in four categories of the MLB Players Choice Awards, which will be announced November 9 on MLB Network.
Sandy Koufax speaks with Rich Hill, Julio Urías and interpreter Jesus Quinonez before the Vin Scully Appreciation Day ceremony September 23. Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian González, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Josh Reddick, RF
Andrew Toles, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Kenta Maeda, P
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian González, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Josh Reddick, RF
Andrew Toles, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Kenta Maeda, P
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers have announced their starting pitchers for the regular season’s remaining six games, and while it is (as always) subject to change, there are some interesting tea leaves to read.
Fresh off a recent conversation with Sandy Koufax (above), Julio Urías has been pegged to start Thursday for the Dodgers, following — in a switch — Kenta Maeda tonight and Jose De León on Wednesday.
With Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw and Maeda slated for the final series against the Giants, that means veterans Brett Anderson, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy would appear to be all but out of consideration for the National League Division Series.
In their only appearances of the month, Anderson threw five innings September 22, Kazmir a single inning September 23 and McCarthy — most encouragingly — six innings of two-run ball September 25.
There’s never been any shortage of surprises with these Dodgers, but you’d be asking any of those pitchers to start on 2 1/2 weeks of rest, simulated innings aside. Game 4 of the NLDS would be played October 11.
Aside from the implications for finalizing the NLDS roster, the main question now is whether Urías, who has a 3.53 ERA this season but has thrown only two innings since September 13, is in a competition with De León to be positioned as No. 4 starter in the playoffs, or whether this is all a backup plan.
Based on Dodger playoff history from 2013-15, Clayton Kershaw would come back on three days’ rest to pitch in Game 4. His recovery from a disk herniation has mostly tabled that concept, but if Kershaw is feeling 100 percent, would you count him out?
Essentially, the Dodgers can start Kershaw in Game 4, turn to one of the rookies, or treat it as a glorified bullpen game, with Urías or De León combining with Ross Stripling to take the starter innings.
We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?
Meanwhile, Hill pitching before Kershaw this weekend in San Francisco shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted as a change in the pecking order. It’s far more likely to give Hill an extra day of rest before he takes the mound in the playoffs. By pitching Saturday, Kershaw would open the NLDS on five days’ rest, with Hill on seven days’ rest.
However, if you want to mull something off the wall, consider this: There are three days’ rest between NLDS Game 1 (October 7) and Game 4, but four days’ rest between NLDS Games 2 (October 8) and Game 5 (October 13). So if you wanted Kershaw to pitch on normal rest for two games, a Game 2 start would be the way to go. In that case, though, you’re guaranteeing the need for a fourth starter in the series.
Update: Dave Roberts confirmed tonight that it would be Kershaw, Hill and Maeda to begin the playoffs, in that order.
By Jon Weisman
One of these years, it wasn’t going to happen. One of these years, the National League West title would go to someone else.
Three months ago, 2016 looked dangerously like it would be that year. The Dodgers began the season in pursuit of their fourth straight division championship, but on June 26, eight games down in the division, one ace down on the disabled list — it was a feeding frenzy for those looking to bury Los Angeles.
Exactly three months later, on September 26, the Dodgers will wake up not eight games down in the NL West, but eight games up — and playoff bound.
Instead of surrendering with Clayton Kershaw out, the Dodgers found a deep resolve. Not coincidentally, it came from a deep roster.
“We talked a lot at Spring Training about depth in the organization,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, in the bombastic clubhouse after today’s clinching victory over Colorado. “It wasn’t something that we were necessarily eager to showcase, as early as we did and as often as we did. But it’s an incredible organization. The number of fingerprints on this division title spans so many different players and so many different departments in our organization. So many people can be proud of it.
By Jon Weisman
San Francisco hung on for a 9-6 victory over San Diego, and the Dodgers put the bubbly away for at least another day.
But after his seven shutout innings in their 14-1 victory tonight, they could break it out just to celebrate this little fact: Heading into the playoffs, Clayton Kershaw is on a roll.
By Jon Weisman
Well, hello there, from inside a tantalizing moment.
Behind a dominant performance by Clayton Kershaw and the offense, the Dodgers have clinched a tie for the National League West title after annihilating the Colorado Rockies, 14-1.
In theory, that should have settled the issue for the night of whether the Dodgers are division champions. But the Giants, who started their game at San Diego 30 minutes before the Dodgers did in Los Angeles, were still playing.
San Francisco led 3-0 after the first inning and 6-0 in the fourth, in a game started by Madison Bumgarner, before San Diego scored in four consecutive innings to tie the game. Moments before the Dodger game ended, the Giants took a 9-6 lead in the 10th inning.
That was the only tension in a night that was otherwise Carnival at Chavez Ravine.
Kershaw struck out six in seven innings of 91-pitch shutout ball, extending his streak without allowing an earned run to 19. He’ll have one more start before the postseason, but — just between us folks — he looks ready.
For Kershaw, it was his first win since returning from the disabled list. Sixteen Dodger pitchers had been credited with victories in between.
Meanwhile, the Dodger bats poured it on against Colorado with four in the second inning, four more in the middle innings and sixth in the seventh, capped by Josh Reddick’s first Dodger grand slam.
Justin Turner tied a career high by reaching base five times, with the Dodgers tallying 21 baserunners in all.
And the waiting continues …
