Dodgers fall short in NLDS

St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams crushed a three-run home run into the right field seats in the seventh inning off Clayton Kershaw last night, erasing a 2-0 LA lead and ending the Dodgers’ post-season in the first round of the playoffs.

The Cardinals advance to play San Francisco in the NLCS while the Dodgers pack up for the off-season.

St. Louis remains alive in the hunt for a World Series title because in four games they came up with clutch home runs against Dodger pitchers, twice off of Kershaw, acknowledged as the best pitcher in the game.

In the two other losses the late-inning dingers came off of Los Angeles relievers.

The hue and cry from journalists and fans will call for Don Mattingly’s head and bemoan the fact that for two straight seasons the Cardinals will move on and the Dodgers are going home.

In his losses in Game One and Game Four, Kershaw cruised the first six innings then had it all unravel in the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals starters and relievers were able to keep the Los Angeles offense in check, save for Game One when the Dodgers put nine runs on the board in a 10-9 loss.

Here’s what we learned about the 2014 Dodgers, winners of the NL West and one of eight teams to make the playoffs:

1. Kershaw, Greinke and Ryu provide stellar starting pitching
2. The middle relievers failed to show, failing in several critical situations
3. Matt Kemp is back
4. Yasiel Puig is still learning the game
5. Hanley Ramirez, when healthy, is still a force at the plate
6. Adrian Gonzalez is a steady RBI producer
7. Carl Crawford has recovered from his injuries and is playing at a high level
8. Kenley Jansen is a shut-down closer
9. Dee Gordon is an emerging star
10. Juan Uribe can still bring it
11. A.J. Ellis is a great defensive catcher and can hit in a clutch
12. Andre Ethier should be starting somewhere
13. Justin Turner had  monster year off the bench

Mattingly had the pieces to go far in the playoffs but his players did not deliver at crunch time – the Cardinals did.

In the off-season the Dodgers will revisit their middle relief where a major investment did not pay off. Expect Ned Colletti to be shopping for some middle relief and setup help in the bullpen.

Aside from that, the Dodgers should stay the course. Kershaw getting beaten in the seventh inning twice in one series is an anomaly.

This team, with some tinkering in the pen, is good enough to win it all.