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LOS ANGELES – These days, it seems like every Clayton Kershaw debut has to be a referendum on his playoff performance compared to the regular season. Indeed, his exit from the first game against the Brewers during the NLCS match a lot of material for people who believe that it's just terrible in the playoffs.
The fifth match was a different story, but it seemed early that the match was heading south. He stopped that and the Dodgers would win 5-2.
He was very good after two innings. After a barrage to open the third goal, Kershaw allowed Orlando Arcia, a one to eight-hole hitter, before making a pass to Brandon Woodruff, the opponent's pitcher. Then Lorenzo Cain doubled to center to score a point. He finished second and third with a lost point for the order's meat.
It looked like one of Kershaw's playoff stinkers. He was missing spots. He was standing up. One could not help thinking about the first game, where he failed to get out in the fourth inning.
Instead, people who think Kershaw lacks some kind of strong mental strength have seen their story exploded. Kershaw bounced back and was brilliant all along the course.
He hit Christian Yelich, swaying on a slider. He walked Ryan Braun, but then he pushed Jesus Aguilar on a slider. These two were the key. First, he limited the damage to a single turn when he could have fallen off the rails. Kershaw himself said that it was important that he draws from it.
"Whenever you can get out of a situation like this, it will make or break the game," he said. "Minimizing the damage to the best you can as a starting pitcher is huge.In the playoffs, you probably will not have a lot of opportunities to shoot you out because you're going to be eliminated from the play because it's such a big one. "
Secondly, it did not have any oscillations and missed with its cursor the last time. This is not a figure of speech. He had no shots with the slider of the first match.
In the fifth game, Wednesday, Kershaw got 10 shots and misses with the slider. All the contrast and that was the key to his rebound.
In the first game, Kershaw faced 18 batters and withdrew two. In the fifth match, he eliminated nine of the 25 confronted.
"It's a classic case in which he has executed a lot of throws today," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. "He did not perform in Milwaukee and he performed today, I do not think it's a very different game plan, it's a simple execution."
Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers, nodded.
"I think that's been done," Roberts said. "I think he's been doing a lot better sequencing today." He had his fastball side arm up and I think the slider of what I saw with the swings had the depth we like. the same look you always see, there is a determination and when you get a champion like him who is hit a bit, he will react and that is what he did today. "
Do you remember how Kershaw said that he had reversed the trend when he had escaped this problematic third round?
"Once I was able to work from that, really, I just tried to focus on having the next guy, the next guy, the next guy," added Kershaw. "And it happened today."
And, boy, did he have the next guy, the next guy, the next guy …
Kershaw faced 12 hitters the rest of the way. He eliminated 12 batters, which means that to get back to Aguilar's shot, he pulled out the last 13 batters he faced. He was so good that he made a point early in the seventh with a 3-1 lead. He made 98 shots, but Dave Roberts was going to stay with him. The plans changed after the Dodgers scored two points, but this continues to show how Kershaw managed to start baseball after the third run. And, in fact, he only played a few of his batters that run. He had Yelich and Aguilar when it mattered most.
The last line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K.
"Today, he was more present," said Lorenzo Cain, leader of the Brewers. "The knives of the backdoor, he comes inside, flipping that brittle ball up there." His brittle ball was strong today, deceiving us for good – it was a tough exit for us. aujourd & # 39; hui ".
Quite simply, it seemed like Kershaw was falling apart. Instead, he offered a jewel to help his team take a 3-2 lead in the best of seven NLCS matches. If the Dodgers win one more game and qualify for the World Series, Kershaw will have another chance to silence his critics at the biggest stadium.
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