Honeycutt: Losing Game 7 was a ‘painful time to experience’

Former Lakeview High School and University of Tennessee standout Rick Honeycutt just completed his 12th season as pitching coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers had baseball’s best regular-season record with a 104-58 mark and reached the World Series for the first time since 1988. They could not deliver a title, however, losing Wednesday night’s seventh and deciding game against the Houston Astros, 5-1, at Dodger Stadium.

Honeycutt was a guest Thursday afternoon of “Press Row” on Chattanooga’s ESPN 105.1 FM:

Q: Are you experiencing both pride and disappointment right now?

A: “Yeah, that’s right on. Whenever you lose the last game you play in a season, you’re never happy, but you made it to the World Series, which is one of the goals you set in spring training. We worked so hard and had a great run. We just came up a little short against a great Astros team.

“I felt like we played one of our worst games in the most important game at the most important time. We just never got anything going, so it was sad and painful to get that far and lose.”

Q: Is there a game or a moment in a game that you’re replaying as far as wishing you had done something differently?

A: “You always look back and you always reassess. We definitely relied on our bullpen a lot, and those guys were warriors who had gotten us to that point. In big games, it comes down to whether you can execute, and I think Game 2 at home probably ended up, for me, being the one we had in control up 3-1 in the eighth.

“They scored one in the eighth, and then (closer) Kenley (Jansen) left one up on an 0-2 in the middle of the plate, so that’s obviously a pitch we would love to have back. More times than not, he’s able to execute and get the save right there. The seesaw, 13-12 game in Houston was a gut-wrencher as well. Just about every game until the last one had been that way.”

Q: Clayton Kershaw had the great Game 1, struggled in Game 5 and was sharp again in Game 7. How was he emotionally afterward?

A: “(Manager) Dave (Roberts) got everybody together after the game and told everybody to keep their heads high and told them how proud he was of the group for the season. All these guys, including Clayton, finally reached that pinnacle of getting to the World Series — there were a lot of tears and a lot of hugging. It was a painful time to experience.

“Everybody wants to point at Clayton, but one person is not going to win or lose a Series. He definitely gave everything he got, and you saw that last night after only two days’ rest. He gave us a chance with his four innings of work. It was a great experience for all of us, and next time I think we’ll be stronger for it.”

Q: How many discussions did you have about starting Kershaw or Alex Wood over Yu Darvish in Game 7?

A: “That really was not brought up that much. We went through every contingency plan in case things went south, and the 3-2 pitch to (George) Springer was a huge mistake. Dave made the decision to pull Yu there and go to the early contingency plan, but as far as the actual start, we had confidence in Yu.

“He had been throwing well down the stretch for us and pitched extremely well in the division series and the championship series. We didn’t feel like the one start in Houston (Game 3) was a reason for him not to start this last game.”

Q: Does Kershaw wrestle with being so dominant in the regular season but struggling in the playoffs?

A: “I think everybody wants to point to the failures, but he’s also been extremely good for us. In the past, a lot of his struggles were because we felt like he was our best choice, and we pushed him on early rest. Everybody just looks at the overall story at the end of the day, but he still went 3-0 this postseason, and the only real struggle was in Houston (in Game 5).

“That’s a team that strikes fast and has power up and down that lineup. (Houston’s Justin) Verlander has never won a World Series game, but I thought he pitched extremely well in both of his games.”

Q: What do you do in November, December and January?

A: “November will be getting reacquainted at home and visiting family and playing with the grandkids. There will be some free-agent discussions. By the middle of December, you’re starting to prepare for spring training as far as the schedules and checking up with players on how their offseasons are going.

“After the first of the year, you’re weekly and almost daily checking on guys.”

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@ timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.