Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Post-Game 5 Thread: Dodgers #5 Starter Ks 13, Perfect Through Seven Innings

DODGERS 7, TWINS 0

One night after a rain-delayed 7-2 victory that was nip and tuck until a six-run top of the eighth inning, the Dodgers sent their #5 starter to the mound against a tableau where no other starting pitcher had lasted more than five innings all season.

Except this #5 starter was Clayton Kershaw.

And these were the Minnesota Twins. Without Carlos Correa in the lineup, as Correa was busy scheming other ways to cheat (and, dealing with a hangnail issue).

Kershaw dealt 13 Ks over seven frames and was pulled after only 80 pitches, withthe Dodgers nursing a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

Fans are pissed off thst Kershaw was pulled, and I get it. But Kershaw himself said on the post-game show that it was the right decision and his slider had lost its bite the last two innings. Not to mention, he isn't stretched out given the lockout, and it was 38 degrees out there today. I am cool with the decision.

We had 5 LOB through two frames and had notched three runs, but the middle frames were scoreless, before we opened up the eighth inning with consecutive HR from Cody Bellinger (whaaaaaaat?), Gavin Lux, and Austin Barnes, the latter of whom regained his lead atop the Dodgers 2022 HR board (with two).

Dereck Rodriguez was the victim of these three HR, two of which (Bellinger's and Lux's) ended up in the same spot, in deep right-center. It was a pretty cool show of offense from a team that hasn't had many outbursts yet this year, certainly not vs. expectations. And Max Muncy added a solo shot in the ninth to raise his average to .118.

Really good to see Muncy and Bellinger get good swings on the ball, for one of the few times this year. As it is, Muncy and Will Smith are the only starters below .200 so far this year. Chris Taylor went 0-for-5 with 2 Ks (Lux had 3Ks today), and dropped his average to .313.

Alex Vesia relieved Kershaw for the seventh and gave up a one-out single, but that was the only hit the Twins had in the shutout loss (Justin Bruihl had a scoreless ninth).

But the story today was clearly Clayton Kershaw, who now has as many Ks as our other four starters, combined (Walker Buehler and Andrew Heaney with five each; Tony Gonsolin with 3; Julio Urias with a goose egg). Dodgers come back to home for four with the Reds and then three with Kenley Jansen's Braves. Good to be back above .500, though we're still third in the division and one game out of first pending tonight's results.

4 comments:

karen said...

Wasn't it great seeing Kid K dealing today like back in the old days??!! I actually almost fell off my sofa when I saw him talking to his teammates in between innings. And the smile! Just a great game all the way around.

Steve Sax said...

I’m actually feeling better about the move as time passes. If we lose Kersh because of early overuse in April, we are toast. As much as I’d like to see a perfect game, it’s not worth the risk.

spank said...

I don't know. Kershaw breaks Down every year. Might as well let him try to finish this game while he's fresh. Its not like he's young and they need to save his arm for future years.the Dodgers can always get another pitcher.

spank said...

It would have been epic. Kershaw in the twilight of his career pitching a perfect game against the elements in dreary Minnesota.