Kershaw is knocked out in the first inning of rout
LOS ANGELES — Gabriel Moreno's three-run homer highlighted a sixrun first inning for Arizona, and the Diamondbacks battered Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on the way to an 11-2 victory in Game 1 of their National League Division Series on Saturday night.
Merrill Kelly finally beat the Dodgers for the first time. Making his first career postseason start at age 34, the righthander came in with an 0-11 record and a 5.49 ERA in 16 starts against LA.
Kelly limited the NL West champions to three hits in 6 ⅓ innings, the last one coming leading off the third on Miguel Rojas' single. He retired 11 in a row during one stretch, struck out five and walked two.
Kershaw staggered through the worst start and shortest of his 16-year career. The three-time Cy Young Award winner got tagged for six runs and recorded just one out in the 100th postseason game at Dodger Stadium.
Kershaw walked off the mound with his head down. He sat down in the dugout, removed his cap and buried his face in his hands.
The lefthander dropped to 13-13 with a 4.49 ERA in the postseason, compared to 210-92 with a 2.48 ERA in the regular season.
Kershaw gave up a leadoff double to Ketel Marte after the ball went off the glove of center fielder James Outman. Corbin Carroll followed with a RBI single, making it 1-0.
Tommy Pham singled to left and Christian Walker doubled off the base of the bullpen gate for a 2-0 lead. Pham finished with four hits.
Moreno came up next and belted a three-run shot to left.
Kershaw retired Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a grounder to shortstop, needing 26 pitches to get the first out of the inning. He became the first first starting pitcher in MLB postseason history to allow five hits and five runs before recording an out, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Kershaw then walked Alek Thomas. That set up Evan Longoria's RBI double to left-center, extending Arizona's lead to 6-0 and leaving the crowd of 51,653 in stunned silence.
Rookie Emmet Sheehan replaced Kershaw, and the D-Backs promptly tacked on three more runs in the second.