Clayton Kershaw was handed his third postseason loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the past year on Friday night. St. Louis rallied in the seventh inning and scored eight runs to take Game 1 of their NLDS series against the Dodgers.
Kershaw was charged with eight earned runs over 6 2/3 innings in the Dodgers' 10-9 loss. He gave up a home run to right fielder Randal Grichuk in the top of the first inning, and then looked flawless up until the sixth inning. The Dodgers had a 6-1 lead after scoring runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but Cardinals' first baseman Matt Carpenter smacked a solo shot off of Kershaw in the top of the sixth to begin the rally.
Then in the top of the seventh, St. Louis blew it open thanks to a bases clearing double from Carpenter followed by a three-run home run from Matt Holliday. Matt Adams and Jon Jay also delivered RBI singles to cap off an eight-run inning. Pedro Baez came on in relief for Kershaw and surrendered the home run to Holliday, which charged one earned run to Kershaw and two to himself.
Despite the win, the Cardinals showed weakness in their pitching staff. Their ace, Adam Wainwright was smacked around for 11 hits and six earned runs in only 4 1/3 innings. Then the bullpen let up five hits and three earned runs, nearly blowing the Cardinals 10-6 lead in the eighth and ninth innings. Dodgers' first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run home run off of Randy Choate in the eighth inning and then Trevor Rosenthal gave up two hits and a run in the ninth before striking out Yasiel Puig to end the game.
Los Angeles cannot afford to lose games with Kershaw on the mound. The left-hander was the best pitcher in all of baseball in 2014 and is going to win the NL Cy Young Award. Kershaw became the first pitcher in MLB history to lead the league in ERA for four consecutive seasons. But his loss to the Cardinals is nothing new - he was defeated twice by St. Louis in last year's NLCS, which the Dodgers lost 4-2. On Friday, he also became the first pitcher in MLB history to allow seven or more runs in back-to-back postseason games.
Game 2 will take place on Saturday at 9:37 p.m. EST at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles will send Zack Grienke (2.71 ERA) to the mound, who will face Lance Lynn (2.74 ERA). Lynn faced the Dodgers in last year' NLCS, recording a 2-0 record with a 2.45 ERA in two appearances (one start). Greinke was also successful against the opposition in the 2013 NLCS. In two starts against St. Louis, the right-hander was 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP.
The Dodgers look to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole at home, but so far this week we've seen the better pitching hasn't always been victorious. The Giants' Jake Peavy defeated the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg on Friday, and the Orioles managed to earn two victories against Detroit's Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. The Royals also took the first two games in extra innings against the Angels in Los Angeles, managing to outlast Jered Weaver and Matt Shoemaker.
Tensions may flare in Game 2 between the Dodgers and Cardinals, especially after Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was hit by a pitch in the third inning, causing the benches to clear after Adrian Gonzalez and Yadier Molina started to yell at each other while Puig jogged to first base.
If the Cardinals can earn another win tonight, it's likely we'll see early exits from the Dodgers, Angels and Tigers - three of the MLB's best offenses.
