[ad_1]
The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers race to the NL West finish line, and along the way, they’ve both received some hard knocks.
The Giants lost Brandon Belt, aka their unofficial captain, to a broken left thumb. His playoff status is uncertain, but for the first few rounds at least, he’s very unlikely to return.
And on Friday night, Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw quickly came out against the Milwaukee Brewers with an injury that looks likely to take him out of the entire playoffs – including a possible NLDS clash against the Giants.
Kershaw started in the second inning of the Dodgers’ 8-6 victory, which kept them in the hunt for the NL West crown, with what’s called elbow inflammation. The Dodgers pitcher is going to undergo some testing, but he’s already pessimistic about his availability going forward.
“The most important thing was that I just wanted to be part of this team until October,” he told reporters. “This team is special. You saw it tonight.… I knew that. I know we’re going to do something special this year, and I wanted to be a part of it. That’s the hardest part for me right now. , you just know that there is a good chance it will not be very nice for October. “
During the season, Kershaw, 33, is 10-8 with a 3.55 ERA.
It’s worth noting that a Giants-Dodgers playoff series is far from a guarantee, but in numbers it’s the most realistic NLDS result.
Whoever wins the NL West (the Giants can clinch a win on Saturday) will face the winner of the NL Wild Card game, which will feature one of the Giants and Dodgers, as well as the St. Louis Cardinals.
St. Louis is hot and could certainly cause a Wild Card upheaval. But the fact remains that the Cardinals would still need to be successful on the road against a club with over 100 regular season wins in order to prevent the Giants-Dodgers collision course that many have seen coming for some time now.
[ad_2]
Source link