Kershaw Lite brings his game to St. Petersburg

In the last five seasons, the oft-injured Clayton Kershaw has seen his fastball decrease from 94-95 mph to 90-91 mph.

The dominating pitcher who once was hailed as the best in the game no longer exists.

But Kershaw 2019 still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Now relying on his off-speed stuff, Kershaw has started the season with a 3-0 record and respectable 3.40 ERA. He remains a tough competitor and workhorse in preparation.

Which is why tomorrow night when he takes the mound against the Rays in St. Pete, I will be sitting in Section 115, Row UU, getting a first-hand look at one of his generation’s best pitchers.

Kershaw is no longer the ace of the staff. Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-1, 1.52 ERA) and pitching mates Walker Buehler (4-1, 3.83 ERA) and Kenta Maeda (5-2, 3.51 ERA) are the backbone of the staff now. The Dodgers have a 3.38 team ERA, second only to Tampa Bay (2.98) in the major leagues.

Don’t expect the two-game set to be a slugfest, but you never know.

When L.A. is at the plate, look for Cody Bellinger, the hottest hitter in the major leagues (.405, 17 HR, 44 RBI), Alex Verdugo (.323, 4 HR, 23 RBI) and Justin Turner (.276, 6 HR, 22 RBI) to lead the way.

And if Tampa throws a righty look for Joc Pederson to get some at-bats. He’s only hitting .220 but has smashed 14 HRs and knocked in 23 RBI while platooning in left field.

The Dodgers go into the two-game set at 31-17, 5.5 games ahead of Arizona in the division and with the best record in the National League. Only Houston and Minnesota in the AL have better records.

Former farmhands blossoming at Chavez Ravine

The Dodgers have always prided themselves on having a strong farm system. Homegrown. Players that come up through the ranks. Like Lasorda, they bleed Dodger blue.

Which is why the emergence of Cody Bellinger in this third full season and Alex Verdugo, in his second year with the big club, along with Joc Pederson, in his fifth full season, and Corey Seager, in his fourth full season, has to put a smile on Dave Roberts' face.

Bellinger is the hottest hitter in baseball, hitting .432 with 10 dingers and 24 RBI in the first 21 games.

Verdugo, who possesses a sweet swing, is trying to crack the starting lineup but may force Roberts to call his number with the way he is swinging the bat. Verdugo is hitting .364 in 44 plate appearances with three homers and 12 RBI and last night displayed a gun for an arm when he fired a 98 mph strike to home to nail a Milwaukee runner at the plate.

Pederson, who was involved in a number of trade rumors in the offseason, is just starting to live up to the expectations created when he hit 25 homers in his first full season in the majors in 2015. Pederson went yard 25 times last year and is looking more hitterish at the plate in 2019. His .234 batting average is still below par but his pitch selection is vastly improved.

Seager, who missed most of 2018 with an elbow injury, is hitting a quiet .239 but has shown flashes of his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016 and his second All-Star appearance in 2017. Seager had 22 homers and drove in 77 RBI in 2017 and has a career .299 batting average.

Then there's the pitchers.

Walker Buehler and Julio Urias, along with Caleb Ferguson out of the pen, are the future anchors of the L.A. staff as Kershaw recedes. Buehler has ace stuff and Urias, still a spot starter, proved he has the right stuff last night when he held Milwaukee to one hit over six frames with nine strikeouts.

The future looks bright.

Losing the World Series again

When your team loses the World Series for the second year in a row it makes you wax philosophical.

On one hand, it's a good thing your team made it to the World Series two years in a row. That means your team won two straight National League championships.

That means your team finished better than 28 other teams. That means your team did better than last year's champs, the Houston Astros, and the New York Yankees.

But it still means your team finished second -- again.

I don't like fans that play the blame game after their teams lose.

Some are calling for a new manager, departure from analytics, new players who will play better.

Look, the Dodgers already have the priciest payroll and a loaded roster. They struggled but still won 92 games to eke into the playoffs. They won the division series against Atlanta and the NLCS over Milwaukee.

Not exactly a failed season.

The Red Sox, however, were better. They took the 100-win Yankees 3-1 in the ALDS, the defending champion Astros 4-1 in the ALCS and the Dodgers 4-1 in the Series. That's a dominating 11-3 in the playoffs and 119 wins in 2018. 

Only the 1998 Yankees (125) and 2001 Mariners (120) won more games in a single season. This team will go down as one of the best in baseball history.

Not that it makes the medicine go down any easier. The Dodgers, like the Yankees and Astros, did not offer much resistance.

But hey, it was a fun ride nonetheless.

Dodgers in a World Series hole

Well, there was a reason the oddmakers had Boston as the heavy favorite in the World Series -- they are darn good.

After dropping 8-4 and 4-2 losses at Fenway, the Dodgers return home to the friendly confines of Chavez Ravine for Games Three, Four and hopefully, Five this weekend.

The odds continue to be in Boston's favor. Of the 51 times teams have taken a 2-0 lead in the 2-3-2 playoff format, 41 of those teams won the series. Which means 10 times teams made a comeback.

Here are reasons for hope:

• Boston will possibly start two righties in Games Three and Four (Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi), which means L.A.'s left-handed power (Muncy, Bellinger, Pederson, Grandal) will be back in the starting lineup.
• The Dodgers will throw Walker Buehler and Rich Hill in Games Three and Four as they try to make a comeback. Buehler is the nascent ace of the staff and Hill has been money as of late. Chris Sale was so-so in Game One but David Price was lights out in Game Two. Let's hope the momentum shifts.
• The weather. Ok, you can't blame the two losses on the weather, but it was a miserable 45 degrees in Fenway last night. The players were bundled up like Packers fans at a January outdoor game. It will be in the low-80's in L.A. this weekend. Baseball weather. Gotta be a lift for the boys in blue.
• No DH, which means the Red Sox pitchers will have to hit and Alex Cora will have to manage National League rules. A subtle nuance, but hey, when you are down two games to none you gotta find hope where you can.

Brian Dozier said it well after last night's loss. "Going home, that can be rejuvenating. We lost back to back, but this team has been resilient. You can wallow in self-pity, or do something about it."

Go Dodgers.

Dodgers are underdogs against Boston

After Saturday's Game Seven win over Milwaukee to win the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers barely had time to wipe the champagne out of their eyes before thinking about their World Series foe, the Boston Red Sox.

Boston won a major league-best 108 games this year and cut through the Yankees and the Astros like butter.

Las Vegas has the Red Sox as a prohibitive favorite to win the Series.

It's a good thing they play these games on the field, not in a computer simulation.

The Dodgers went to the seventh game of the World Series a year ago only to be denied the ultimate prize.

That's the kind of thing that sticks in your craw for a while.

Boston is good, no doubt about it. But don't be too quick to count out veterans like Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Justin Turner, Matt Kemp and Ryan Madson, who realize their window to get a ring may be closing. And then there's Manny Machado, who hasn't been a Dodger very long but could catch lightning in a bottle as a mid-season acquisition.

As a boy growing up in Bell Gardens, California, me and my buddies (Yeah you Hartnett) use to have summertime wiffle ball and spray can lid (they produce wicked curves) games in my backyard. We used flour to chalk out baselines and even had our own version of the Green Monster, someone's two story garage in the rear of the property.

When I wasn't the Dodgers I liked to be Boston, with Jim Lonborg pitching and Carl Yastremski leading the offense. Boston won the American League pennant in 1967, when I was 11 years old. They reached the World Series by edging out Detroit and Minnesota by one game but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Series.

Years later I was attending a conference in Boston and skipped out on a dinner speaker to take the Green Line to Fenway to watch the Red Sox and Orioles play. Cal Ripken was playing for the Orioles that night as he marched toward the end of an amazing career.

I asked the hotel concierge to get me the best seat available and he rewarded me with a choice spot off third base about three rows in.


Now here we are, a lifetime later, the Dodgers playing in Fenway for all the marbles.


If I hit one over the fig tree it would be a homer.

Dodgers a win away from return to Series

A year ago, the Dodgers battled to the seventh game of the World Series only to lose to the Houston Astros when Yu Darvish was pummeled.

Now the Dodgers are up 3-2 in the NLCS, a win away from a return to the Fall Classic and a date with Boston after Clayton Kershaw's gem on Wednesday. Kershaw held Milwaukee to one run on three hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts as he rode his slider and curve ball to a vintage outing.

His fastball didn't crack 92 miles per hour but his off-speed pitches had the Brewers lunging and leaning.

Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Ryan Madson and Kenley Jansen finished the final two innings and timely hitting by Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, Yasiel Puig, Brian Dozier, Max Muncy and Justin Turner propelled Los Angeles to a 5-2 victory.

The Dodgers send Hyun-Jin Ryu to the hill tonight against Wade Miley as Los Angeles looks to close out the NLCS in six games. A Milwaukee victory would force a deciding seventh game on Saturday.

Boston closed out Houston for a 4-1 series win and await the National League representative to start the World Series Tuesday.

Milwaukee came into the NLCS touting a strong bullpen, and they have delivered. However, the Dodgers' relievers have stepped up with Madson, Ferguson, Baez and Kenta Maeda playing major roles in the playoffs.

Brewers' manager Craig Counsell pulled the switcheroo on the Dodgers by sending Wade Miley out for the first batter then switching to right-hander Brandon Woodruff, a move designed to throw off the Los Angeles lineup with a last-minute change to a righty.

Woodruff gave up three runs on five hits in 5.1 innings and right-hander Joakim Soria was tagged for the final two runs.

L.A.'s platoon system, showcasing a deep bench, paid off Wednesday as Barnes, Bellinger, Puig, Muncy and Dozier had critical at bats. Look for right-handed hitters David Freese, Dozier, Kike Hernandez and Matt Kemp to make appearances against Miley.

Bellinger breaks out to even series

Cody Bellinger's 13th inning walk-off single to right field in the early morning hours here on the East Coast kept the Dodgers alive in the National League Championship Series.


 Down 2-1 in the NLCS against Milwaukee, another loss would have put the Dodgers in a deep, deep hole.


Instead, the 2-1 thriller knotted the series at 2-2 and gives Los Angeles a shot at advancing to the World Series for the second year in a row.


 Clayton Kershaw gets the ball today and will try to atone for his Game Two disaster when he gave up five runs on six hits and lasted only three innings in a 6-5 loss.



Kershaw will face off against Wade Miley, who held the Dodgers to two hits over 5.2 innings in the Game Two loss to the Dodgers.


In the critical Game Four, Dave Roberts used every player on the roster to outlast the Brewers, who have one of the deepest pens in baseball.


Rich Hill was masterful over five frames before handing the reins over to the pen, where Pedro Baez, Kenta Maeda, Ryan Madson, Caleb Ferguson, Kenley Jansen, Alex Wood, Dylan Floro, and Julio Urias pitched shutout ball to stifle the Brewers.


Bellinger got two of L.A.'s seven hits to raise his playoff batting average to .214, but his walk-off couldn't have come at a better time. L.A.'s other run came in the first inning when Chris Taylor drew a walk, moved to second on a Justin Turner ground out and scored on a Brian Dozier single to left.


L.A.'s defense was stellar with Bellinger and Taylor making circus catches and Turner making a great stab at third.