Dodgers win, force Game 5
Ace ousts devil, finds seventh heaven
Pitcher Clayton Kershaw reacts after closing out the seventh inning as he kept the Dodgers’ postseason alive Tuesday night in a nervewracking 3-1 victory against the Mets in New York.
NEW YORK — The ball spun off his glove in defiance. Clayton Kershaw spun through the air in frustration.
It was happening again. It was the seventh inning of an elimination game and it was happening again, the best pitcher on the planet imploding again, the Dodgers season cratering once more.
Leading off the seventh inning of a Dodgers’ must-win Game 4 of the National League division series Tuesday night, the New York Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes hacked a bleeder about 30 feet down the thirdbase line, where it ticked off the glove of pitcher Kershaw.
Moments later, Cespedes was standing on first, nearly 45,000 Mets fans were on their feet and the Dodgers’ 3-1 lead was caught between Kershaw’s history and histrionics.
This was Matt Adams. This was Matt Carpenter. This was every nightmare from Kershaw’s elimination losses in the last two years come to life one more time.
Don’t say you weren’t thinking this at home, because you were. Don’t think the Dodgers were ignoring it in the dugout, because they couldn’t.
Said Manager Don Mattingly: “Cespedes hits that
chopper to lead off the inning and [it’s] like, ‘Oh, here we go…’ ”
Said catcher A.J. Ellis: “There’s no secret the seventh inning has kind of been a tough spot for him these past few postseason outings, so the flood of emotions that happens after Cespedes’ dribbler … ”
Kershaw’s burden was visible, vibrant and hanging from his broad shoulders as he briefly visited with Ellis before returning to the top of the pitcher’s mound alone amid a Citi Field full of flapping orange flags and jeers.
And then, with a giant shrug and six mighty heaves, he shook it. Finally, he shook it. In what was probably the greatest of the 1,6752⁄3 innings he has pitched in his career, the man the Mets’ David Wright called “a beast” slayed the beast.
Travis d’Arnaud fouled out down the first-base line. Lucas Duda flied out to center field. Wilmer Flores grounded out to a diving third baseman Justin Turner.
End of inning. End of narrative. Clayton Kershaw finally won a truly big one, saving the Dodgers’ season with seven brilliant innings in a 3-1 win that tied the best-of-five series at two games apiece and sends it to a deciding Game 5 for teammate Zack Greinke on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
“Glad I did it, I guess,” Kershaw said later. “I mean, there’s no curse or anything.”
Not anymore, there’s not. He’s won 116 major league games including the postseason, but this was the biggest. He’s won three Cy Young Awards and an MVP, but this was bigger.
He not only kept the Dodgers’ season alive by allowing just one run and three hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings, but he did it while pitching on three days’ rest for the first time this season.
“He deserves this moment. He deserves to be on this stage [with] the great postseason performances of the past,” said Ellis.
Mattingly wouldn’t specifically say that Kershaw had just removed a giant primate from the name on his jersey, but you could tell he knew it.
“I’m actually really happy for him…everything that you’re supposed to be, he is … this guy’s an animal, the way he works, represents us, the game of baseball, himself,” said Mattingly. “He’s really a credit to the game and so you’re really happy for him to be able to do that tonight.”
The Mets worked the pitch count on him early, with David Wright even drawing a one-out walk in the first, but Kershaw continually fought to survive.
He allowed a home run to Daniel Murphy for the second time in the series with one out in the fourth, but then retired the next two hitters without the ball leaving the infield.
He allowed a two-out single to Lagares in the fifth, but then struck out pinchhitter Michael Cuddyer on four pitches.
Then, of course, he finished it off with that breathtaking seventh inning, six pitches to retire three hitters, ending the game tiring with the 94 pitches and short rest, but ending it a winner in the postseason for only the second time in his career.
And, oh, by the way, he also singled to start the Dodgers’ third-inning, three-run uprising, and then later even tried to reach first on a surprise bunt that went foul.
“He definitely wanted this badly and I’m so proud of him, especially getting those last three outs, which were the toughest for him tonight,” said Ellis.
Kershaw has tried to avoid reliving the past during his postseason drought, and wasn’t thrilled to bring it up again in the postgame news conference.
He was even snippy when I began the questioning by asking about his mind-set when that ball tipped off his glove and how he survived that usually fateful seventh inning.
“That’s really the first question I’m answering?” he said. “I don’t — I mean, yeah, it was frustrating to give up a hit like that. That’s all I got for you. Good question.”
He understandably may not want to discuss it, but the elimination-game burden was there, and now, in a flash of glory, it’s gone.
Zack Greinke? Your turn.
‘He’s really a credit to the game and so you’re really happy for him to be able to do that tonight.’
—Don Mattingly,
Dodgers’ manager, on Clayton Kershaw