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LOS ANGELES – Late into Friday night, in the aftermath of the National League Division, Clayton Kershaw was asked dose of satisfaction, given the circumstances leading up to it.
Finally, some defiance leaked out.
"Yeah, maybe," Kershaw said behind a smile. "Maybe a tick."
Kershaw, noticeably more limited these days, has been pushed to the second game of these playoffs, marking the first time since he was a 21-year-old second-year player that he was not on the mound when his Los Angeles Dodgers began the postseason .
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Clayton Kershaw tossed eight innings of two-hit ball in the Dodgers' second straight playoff shutout, and Manny Machado slugged a two-run homer as Los Angeles beat the Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in their NL Division Series.
Dodgers' ace is still driven to dominate every single day – no matter what it takes.
Dave Roberts' decision to use Hyun-Jin Ryu, not Clayton Kershaw, as his Game 1 starter raised some eyebrows, Ryu goal delivered in a big way.
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Dave Roberts and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, who preached the benefits of an extra day of rest in October. Kershaw said it all the right things when he was in the media, and hardly watched, he watched and watched Hyun-Jin Ryu dominate the Atlanta Braves in Game 1.
Then Kershaw went out and pitched longer, better and more efficiently than he ever has on this stage.
The Dodgers' longtime ace twirled eight scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the Braves on Friday, with only two winners in the postseason. One of the first strikeouts – one of them in the first seven innings – an interview with the author, Anibal Sanchez, required for 10 fewer outs.
"He pitched," Roberts said of Kershaw. "For me, one of the best outings that I've seen that I can recall, in the sense that he used his complete repertoire of pitches."
Kershaw learned to survive with a low-90s fastball this season, a product of an uncommonly high workload and persistent backwardness. He relied more heavily on his slider, lived on the outer edges of the strike zone and induced a lot of early contact, which he described in his most important start of the season.
"I think he has definitely evolved as a pitcher," Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal said. "We have got to a point where we need to change a few things, and I think he has a lot of things. He understands when he is going deeper in games. "
The Dodgers, winners of six straight back to the do-or-die games that ended up, joined the 1921 New York Yankees as the only teams with shutouts in their first two games of a single postseason, according to Stats LLC.
Ryu relies heavily on his fasting, and he is very happy with him on Thursday, then Kershaw mixed in his fastball, slider and curveball to deliver what was probably the best postseason start of his career.
"It was pretty special to watch," said Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado, who's a first-in-two-run homer that proved to be the difference in the contest. "It was special to play behind."
Kershaw's first pitch was laced into the gap by star-outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., but he retired the next 14 batters he faced. He struck out Nick Markakis with a well-spotted, outside-corner curveball to the first inning and recorded 13 of his outs on ground balls.
Kershaw came out for the ninth, but it was only so that Roberts could force Brian Snitker's Braves manager to burn a pinch hitter. Kershaw has been crowned cheer from the 54,452 fans at Dodger Stadium, paving the way for Kenley Jansen to record the save.
Roberts said there was not a whole lot of consideration for letting Kershaw finish the game, even though he had recorded eight of his 24 outs in the first two pitches of an at-bat. A big reason stemmed from the hard grounder that he took off the right hamstring in the fifth inning, which tightened up the game progressed.
At the dais, Kershaw asked his daughter, Cali, if he should have pitched the ninth inning.
She nodded in disagreement.
"She knows," Kershaw said. "She knows."
Kershaw has made a difference in the past – a product, he thinks, of becoming a father. The game is also beginning to humble him. Kershaw spent a third consecutive season with a back injury this year. He finished with a 2.73 ERA, but the strikeout rate (8.6), the hits per nine innings (7.8) and the swinging-strike percentage (11.0) all suffered.
He was asked if this start – highly effective, but in no way overpowering – encapsulated who he is now.
"That's a lot of thought right there," Kershaw said. "I do not know." "I think the biggest thing is obviously." "Obviously, there's going to be some situations where you need to strike, but get as fast as possible.
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