WRONG STUFF
As ace wilts again in postseason, Mattingly makes right call to pull him
Another October, another long, slow, painful walk for Clayton Kershaw from the pitching mound into his personal hell.
The crowd stood. Kershaw slumped. The crowd roared. Kershaw winced. The crowd quieted. Kershaw collapsed on the bench. We’ve been here before and it never gets any easier. We’ve seen this before and it never makes any more sense.
For a third consecutive postseason Friday, the best pitcher on the planet stumbled in the biggest moment of his season and this time, even an attempted rescue by Manager Don Mattingly couldn’t save the pitcher, the moment or the game.
In a controversial but proper decision, Mattingly lifted Kershaw after he walked the bases loaded with two out in the seventh inning of the National League division series opener against the New York
Mets at Dodger Stadium.
Pedro Baez took the ball, gave up a two-run single to David Wright, and the Mets took a 3-0 lead that eventually became a 3-1 win that puts the Dodgers’ postseason on the brink just hours after it began.
But, yes, you read that right. Mattingly made the right call in lifting Kershaw after he had thrown 113 pitches in steamy heat. He made the right call after Kershaw had walked three of the five batters in faced in the seventh.
He made the right call because if the Dodgers have learned anything from the last two postseasons, it is they cannot stand by helplessly and watch their ace wilt while their season wilts with him.
Were you not watching last October against the St. Louis Cardinals? Were you not watching in October of 2013 against those same Cardinals?
In two late collapses last season against the Cardinals, Kershaw succumbed after throwing 110 and 102 pitches. The previous season, he was left alone to absorb a shelling while throwing 98 pitches.
In all three games, there were cries that Mattingly should have swallowed his pride and risked alienating his ace and gone to the bullpen. From the moment Mattingly angered Kershaw by pulling him late in the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it was obvious this season’s Dodgers, from the front office to the dugout, would heed those cries.
Yes, Kershaw had been his usual dominating self in the first six innings Friday with 11 strikeouts and only four allowed hits, his effort marred only by Daniel Murphy’s fourth-inning homer.
But in that seventh inning, the signs of potential collapse were everywhere.
He threw four balls in five pitches to Lucas Duda, who only had two career hits against him in 12 previous at-bats. He was ahead 0and-2 to Ruben Tejada, but then lost him to a walk. Then he was ahead 1-and-2 to Curtis Granderson, yet also stumbled and walked him to load the bases.
Up stepped Wright, who had already battled Kershaw to a walk in a 12-pitch at-bat in the first inning. Warming up in the bullpen was Pedro Baez, who had allowed one run in his previous eight appearances with nine strikeouts. Mattingly had ignored that bullpen the previous two years, but he wasn’t going to do it again.
“Going into that inning, we kind of looked at what his pitch count was, and kind of thought . . . if we got back to Wright . . . felt like that was going to be a spot . . . thought we were going to make a move there,” said Mattingly.
Kershaw didn’t fight this time. Kershaw knew.
“I put myself in that spot so not much room for arguing when you put yourself in that situation,” said Kershaw.
Even the Mets, while thrilled to get Kershaw out of the game, weren’t that happy about suddenly seeing the energy of Baez.
“Normally you’d be pleased to get Kershaw out of the game,” said Wright. “But then you look up at a guy throwing 100 [mph] and you’re not too pleased.”
Should he have brought in hotter reliever Chris Hatcher? Perhaps, but the point is that Mattingly did the right thing in lifting Kershaw, and the awful outcome doesn’t change the fact that their ace was cooked.
“He had walked three guys in an inning,” said Mattingly, adding he “was kind of out of sync there.”
To be fair, the entire team was out of sync Friday against the hair-raising fastball of the Mets’ Jacob deGrom. Rookie Corey Seager struck out twice and popped out with a runner in scoring position. Rookie Joc Pederson flied out with two guys on base. Adrian Gonzalez struck out three times before finally delivering a one-run single.
The Dodgers now face a must-win Game 2 on Saturday night with their 2015 ace on the mound, Zack Greinke. If they lose, they would face an elimination game Monday in New York with Brett Anderson facing the Mets’ ace Matt Harvey.
No, Kershaw can’t pitch on two days’ rest. At this point, both he and the Dodgers can only hope he can pitch again, period, a man and a team continuing their search for October redemption.