Trendy Game 1 win for Dodgers
The 113th World Series quickly turned into an exhibit of how baseball has transformed. Big swings and big home runs with a side of strikeouts ruled Game 1, typifying an era that features all of the above in alarming doses.
For the first time, a regular season concluded with more than 6,000 homers and 40,000 strikeouts, so perhaps it was fitting how the Dodgers won Tuesday night’s opener — 3-1 over Houston — in their first World Series in 29 years.
All of the game’s runs were produced on homers, and Clayton Kershaw struck out 11 batters in seven innings in the most dominant start of his postseason career, which hasn’t measured up to the regular-season glory that makes him the premier pitcher of our time.
Several of the sport’s trends played out on a sizzling Los Angeles evening, including the manner in which Chris Taylor and Justin Turner homered for the Dodgers. The co-MVPs of the National League Championship Series are among a growing number of hitters to revamp their swings, and in the process, they’ve turned from ordinary hitters to big-time power threats.
Speaking of trends, Kershaw was lifted after seven innings and just 83 pitches, part of the new world order of bullpen management. The great Sandy Koufax was in the crowd, a reminder of a nine-innings-orbust era when pitch counts were either ignored or irrelevant and relievers often had little value.
Kershaw wasn’t fatigued. He
wasn’t losing it. He had walked no one and given up three hits. But manager Dave Roberts told his prized lefty he was done. Why? Because high-powered relievers Brandon Morrow and Kenley Jansen were ready to roll. Indeed, both threw perfect innings, so ultimately there was no debate, no blame to cast.
Perhaps the only trend missing on this night involved the time of game. Postseason play has become slow and drawn out, thanks to commercials, pitching changes and deliberate tactics — not to mention replay reviews — but Tuesday’s nine innings lasted just 2 hours, 28 minutes, the quickest World Series game since 1992.
It helped that rallies came in short order, two walks were issued and Houston’s Dallas Keuchel matched Kershaw through five innings. The Astros’ lefty had a hiccup in the sixth (Turner’s two-run homer) and was gone in the seventh.
Keuchel’s first mistake was his first pitch. Taylor used a newfound leg kick and uppercut swing to hit underneath a get-me-over fastball and jack it 447 feet. He’s not the Taylor of 2016, when he had a flat swing, favored simple contact and tried to shoot the ball through the infield. He homered once. In fact, he had one homer in his first 318 career plate appearances covering parts of three seasons.
Then Taylor changed everything. He entered spring training with a new philosophy that dramatically accelerated his bat speed and hit 21 homers in the regular season. It was fitting he was co-MVP in the NLCS with Turner, a model for Taylor whose own changed approach at the plate revitalized his career.
A few years back, Turner developed a leg kick and uppercut and famously went from a utility infielder to All-Star third baseman, and Taylor got a firsthand look last season. The transformations helped the Dodgers rule the National League West and, so far, the postseason.
Strikeouts come with the territory. They’re far more accepted than in yesteryear. Choking up and two-strike approaches are long gone. Houston hitters struck out 12 times, including four by leadoff man George Springer.
Kershaw, whose only blemish was Alex Bregman’s homer in the fourth, needed nine pitches in the first inning, 11 in the second. The first time through the lineup, the only Astro with a hit was Josh Reddick, who hit a bleeder through the right side.
With the score 1-1 in the sixth, Roberts didn’t pull Kershaw for a pinch-hitter even though the pitcher has had plenty of seventh-inning blues in his postseason career, to the tune of an ERA in the 20s. Kershaw grounded out, watched Turner’s homer later in the inning and got through the seventh — finally — even though Jose Altuve opened with a single.
Kershaw’s postseason ERA before this year was 4.45. This October, it’s 2.96, even though he has yielded seven homers. It’s a sign of the times. Pitchers give up homers. Batters strike out. But the greats tend to supersede trends and flourish when it counts most, and that was Kershaw in Game 1.