Clayton Kershaw was cruising going into the seventh inning
of last night’s NLDS opener
in Chavez Ravine.
He had given up two hits, solo homers, but his offense had
provided him a 6-2 cushion.
Then the world came crashing in.
St. Louis put together a string of six hits off the Dodger
ace, the last being a bases clearing double by Matt Carpenter, and when Don
Mattingly went to the mound to get Kershaw the Cards were up 7-6.
For Kershaw, who has owned the league this year, the
stunning loss was a stark reminder of last year’s meltdown against these same
Cardinals in the NLCS.
Pedro Baez came on to stem the tide but promptly delivered
up a three-run homer to Matt Holliday, giving St. Louis a 10-6 lead and an eight-run
inning.
The Dodgers answered with two runs in the eighth on an
Adrian Gonzalez two-run homer and a run in the ninth but Trevor Rosenthal was
able to strike out Yasiel Puig in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run 90
feet away.
On a night when pitching let them down, the Dodgers pounded
out 16 hits. St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright gave up six runs on 11 hits in 4.1
innings as the much awaited pitching duel of aces turned into an offensive
display by both teams.
A.J. Ellis, hitting under .200, broke out with a 4-for-5
night, including a two-run home run. Matt Kemp had three hits in five trips and
Puig, Hanley Ramirez and Carl Crawford had a pair of hits each for Los Angeles.
Andre Ethier had a big pinch-hit double in the ninth that
led to a Dodgers’ score but the rally ended a run short.
The Dodgers will try to even the series tonight with Zack
Greinke (17-8, 2.71) taking the hill against Lance Lynn (15-10, 2.74)
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