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LOS ANGELES – It was worth watching the ball as it sank into the left slot of the central field, following its path from the grass to the ground up to the base of the wall, can -being even taking a photo or two.
That may be what the Atlanta Braves should have done. Once again, the Braves should have done a lot of things inside the Dodger Stadium on Friday night, like refraining from hacking so early in the accounts, taking one or two tight throws, anything that could prevent Clayton Kershaw to settle in one of his unshakeable grooves. the Los Angeles Dodgers. Because this bottom-line match, a brace of Ronald Acuna Jr.'s match in the first pitch of the match, was as good as he got against Kershaw in a 3-0 defeat against Dodgers in the second game of the Division Division series of the National League. .
[Box score: Dodgers 3, Braves 0]
The Braves have never put another rider in a leading position against the Dodgers ace, who has pitched eight scoreless innings on 85 shots without giving a single step. The Braves collected another shot off Kershaw, for a total of two, while he hit the area with his left arm strikes. They have not generated any more threats, have not scored in the last two games of this series and looked like Friday to a young and inexperienced team that still can not compete with these Dodgers.
It was because of Kershaw, one day after watching the first game of the dugout and two days before the Dodgers had a chance to sweep the Braves at SunTrust Park in Atlanta.
"All I was trying to do was try to put our team in a good position, and you want to defend the field at home when you have the field at home obviously," said Kershaw. "So parts 1, 2, whatever, I'm going to play in the playoffs and I'm excited about it."
Manny Machado of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his homer with two points against the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the second game of a National League Baseball league series on Friday, October 5, 2018 in Los Angeles. Angeles. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong)
Kershaw started after an extra day of rest because Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to throw Hyun-jin Ryu in the opening game on Thursday. And in many ways, the rest was normal for Kershaw.
Since the Major League Baseball has added more rest days to the calendar in 2018, and perhaps thanks to a Roberts plot, Kershaw has made 12 starts on an extra day of rest this season. It was a little more than the nine appearances he had made in regular rest and forced him to follow two different routines according to his schedule. He was actually better with the extra day (7-1 with a 2.56 ERA) compared to his regular rest number (1-3, 3.21). The second match could have been considered as his new comfort zone.
And yet, the departure was abnormal for other reasons, reasons that count when you can throw a baseball like few others in the world, reasons that relate more to the message and the symbolism than the logic and results. Kershaw has been a star of the pitchers for almost 10 years and, in turn, the starter of the Dodgers gifted match 1 every time they started a playoff series. It was never really a question. The Dodgers pulled out, October arrived and if Kershaw's arm was ready, he went to the mound, placed his blue crampons on the rubber and went to work.
But not Thursday. It was not when Roberts went with Ryu and saw him throw 7 scoreless innings in a 6-0 win. Not until Kershaw leads the Dodgers in Game 2 and gives the doubles to Acuna on his first pitch. Kershaw then avoided the trouble with two ground stops and one setback, letting him scream with joy as he watched his tight left fist.
"It's impressive. It is not a surprise. This guy is a potential Hall of Fame player, "said Roberts about Kershaw having not started the game in the first game. At the time of starting his match and helping his ball club win a match, I had no worries. to affect it. "
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He was immediately rewarded by the formation of the Dodgers, at the expense of the Braves starter, Anibal Sanchez, when Manny Machado lined a home in the first leg on the wall of the left field. Machado arrived at the Dodgers in mid-July to acquire the most valuable purchase deadline for baseball. He did not play as such in the first match, having scored two goals without a swing, leading to double play and making a mistake at the short stop.
Machado met expectations on Friday, if only because he pitched the Dodgers by crushing that first home win in a 3-0 score. Yasmani Grandal added another in the fifth inning for the third round of the Dodgers. It was more than Kershaw needed.
"He launched, he launched," said Roberts of Kershaw. "I think this has been one of the best outings I can remember in the sense that he has used his full repertoire of pitches. He used both sides of the plate, he changed the level of the eyes effectively and he really rocked. "
When asked if there was any extra satisfaction to the performance given that he pitched in match 2 instead of match 1, Kershaw gave up for a moment to the situation.
"Yeah, maybe," he said with a big smile. "Maybe a tick, of course."
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He scored 14 consecutive batters after Acuna's double, mixing a fast 90s ball, a flattering cutter and a curly curve that bent his knees and left the crowd in suspense. He was nailed by an opponent of Ozzie Albies in the fourth quarter, rushed to get it and threw the runner fast by falling on his back. He managed a double game that ended the round and hammered his glove once before leaving the field.
And after Kershaw finished the eighth inning with a Charlie Culberson attack, leaving Culberson toss his batting gloves into the ground, he rushed into the barracks and wrapped his arm with two towels. He had not entered the eighth in 20 playoff games, let alone in the ninth. Roberts went to talk to him as Kenley Jansen got closer to the heat.
Kershaw ran to the mound to warm up in preparation for the final round, bringing a packed crowd to life as he recovered the ball from the mound with his glove. But Roberts came to get him a few moments later, just so the Dodgers could see the Braves scorer compete accordingly, and the fans applauded Kershaw before he booed the director for his decision.
They wanted more Kershaw. Just three more outs. Yet he had already done his part, then in Game 2, to change, in a way that did not change, even if the circumstances were slightly.
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