What many thought would be a pitching duel between Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish turned out to be a slogfest with the Padres evening the series 1-1, finally pulling out a postseason win against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Clayton Kershaw was not very sharp through the first two innings. He allowed a home run to Manny Machado in the top of the first. In the second, he allowed two hits but dug deep to strike out the final two batters of the inning to escape unscathed.
Kershaw allowed a walk and hit in the top of third, and Machado tied the game with a double. After a nine pitch at bat, Jake Cronenworth grounded into a fielders choice plating another run.
After that, Kershaw set down the next nine batters he faced, needing only 22 pitches to retire the last eight batters he faced.
Kershaw ended the night going five innings, allowing three runs on 80 pitches, six hits and striking out six.
The Dodgers managed to answer each of the first three innings, with solo homers by Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Trea Turner respectively.
Dodgers did get two on bottom of the fourth, but failed to score.
Brusdar Graterol relieved Kershaw, where broken bat single, Trea Turner error and seeing-eye single put the Padres back in front. The Padres attempted safety squeeze, but Graterol fielded the bunt perfectly to get the runner out at home. Cody Bellinger then followed with an incredible catch to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Will Smith and Muncy hit back to back singles, chasing Darvish from the game. Darvish’s final line was 99 pitches, allowing three earned runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. It was his first time in 25 starts where he did not complete the sixth inning.
Robert Suârez entered the game, striking out Justin Turner and getting Gavin Lux to hit into a double play to end the inning.
Yency Almonte stuck out top of order
Dodgers loaded bases but again failed to plate any runners
Blake Treinen, added to the postseason roster even though he hadn’t pitched any meaningful innings because of injury throughout the season, came in to pitch the top of the eighth. He allowed a lead-padding home run to Cronenworth. While the defense made some questionable plays behind him, he managed to escape the inning allowing just the one run.
Again, the Dodgers get runners on in the bottom of the eighth, but again, fail to score.
After Tommy Kahnle struck out the top of the Padres lineup in the top of the ninth, the Dodgers tried to mount a rally against Josh Hader. Other than a two out Freeman double, however, they fell short losing the game, 5-3.
The Dodgers will need to work on their inability to get runners home that are in scoring position, much like other postseasons.
The series now shifts to San Diego for two games. Tony Gonsolin will start for the Dodgers, and the Padres will send Blake Snell to the mound on Friday.