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Clayton Kershaw against the Giants in September: Two starts, 18 innings, one run, seven singles, no extra-base hits, two walks, 28 strikeouts, and one hellacious at-bat against Madison Bumgarner.
In 227 1/3 career innings against the Giants, Kershaw has 243 strikeouts with a 1.54 ERA, the fourth-lowest career ERA against a single opponent in MLB history, and a 0.82 WHIP, the lowest against a single opponent ever.
— Jon Weisman
By Jon Weisman
The Titanic skipped the iceberg. The boys beat the breaks.
All the numbers are magic tonight. For the first time in their history, the Dodgers are going to the postseason for the third consecutive year.
Soaring on home runs by Kiké Hernandez, Justin Ruggiano and A.J. Ellis off 2014 World Series hero Madison Bumgarner, sailing on the Unsinkable Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers stood up and shook up San Francisco, 8-0, to win the 2015 National League West title.
For Kershaw, it was his first career one-hitter (Kevin Frandsen’s clean single in the second inning preventing next-level history) and the second consecutive year he pitched the Dodgers to the NL West title — an eight-run victory both times. For Ellis, it was the second time in three years he homered in a division-clinching game.
Next challenge: To end the 26-year drought without a World Series title, the Dodgers’ longest since they won their first World Series in 1955. They will face the New York Mets in the National League Division Series, beginning October 9.
With the Dodgers having lost eight times in their last 10 games, stuck for 100 hours in a row on a magic number of two to clinch the division, Kershaw rose to the occasion for, as if it were even possible, one of the most brilliant games of his brilliant career. He retired the final 19 batters, struck out 13 in all (two shy of his career high), while needing only 104 pitches for the 12th shutout of his career.
Kershaw has 294 strikeouts in 2015, putting him within striking distance of 300 for the year, though he will probably have an abbreviated start in the Dodgers’ regular-season finale Sunday. Either way, Kershaw has the most whiffs for an MLB pitcher since Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson topped the 300 mark in 2002.
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In his first start since returning from the disabled list, Hernandez provided the initial spark — or sparks. He led off the game with a single off Bumgarner, went to third on an omenic Kelby Tomlinson error, then scored on Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly — all before hitting the first Dodger homer to begin the third.
Though Kershaw was dealing, allowing his only single and walk in the third inning, it was a plenty tight game into the fifth, when whatever leverage Bumgarner was hanging onto seemed to give way when it took him 13 pitches to retire Kershaw — the longest at-bat by a big-league pitcher this year. The Dodgers didn’t score, but Bumgarner finished the fifth inning already at 100 pitches.
With two out in the sixth, Bumgarner hung a curveball that Ruggiano blasted for a 3-0 Dodger lead. Ellis went back-to-back to make it 4-0. In the eighth, the Dodgers broke it open with four runs, the big blow a team-leading sixth triple of the year by Andre Ethier.
Starting with the last out of the third inning, Kershaw retired 16 batters in a row, striking out 10 of them, to reach the ninth on 96 pitches.
Trevor Brown whiffed on three pitches. Angel Pagan flied to left on two pitches. Kelby Tomlinson took tow balls, then hit a slow chopper to shortstop, where Corey Seager flung to Adrian Gonzalez to ignite the celebration.
Next stop, playoffs.
Zack Greinke’s ERA in September is 1.91. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
While the weekend sweep at Colorado delayed all celebration in Dodgerland, it has set up Zack Greinke to kill two very large birds with one stone-cold toss.
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By Jon Weisman
Weekday afternoon games seem to have a way of bringing out the weirdness at Dodger Stadium. Oh, it’s probably no different proportionally than weeknight games or weekend games, but maybe all that sun exposure adds an extra level of head-spinning.
The last time the Dodgers hosted a 12:10 p.m. game, 55 weeks ago, they tied it in the ninth and 12th innings before losing in the 14th. So if ever an 80-pitch Clayton Kershaw outing and a Chris Heisey grand slam were going to be par for the course, why not today?
On a blazing second day of fall that seemed even hotter than the 89-degree first-pitch temperature, with the Dodgers trailing, 3-0, Don Mattingly pinch-hit for Kershaw in the bottom of the fifth, preferring to save some of his ace’s bullets for next week at San Francisco and beyond. Kershaw, the competitor, jawed at Mattingly in the dugout, and Mattingly, the manager, stood and counterpointed.
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Then, both watched the Dodgers send 10 men to the plate and score six runs, the final four on Heisey’s first home run as a Dodger, a 344-foot shot that curled just beyond the left-field foul pole. It wasn’t Heisey’s first big hit as a Dodger, but it was his biggest.
“I had a tough year, up and down, haven’t played like I wanted, but it’s nice to help the team get a win, especially when we need wins to clinch a playoff berth,” Heisey said. “I know Clayton didn’t want to come out of the game. He pitched well, gave up a few runs, but I felt he was in pretty good control. He was a little frustrated coming out, but it was great to get him the win, like I said, and get the team the win.”
Coming shortly after Howie Kendrick’s two-run single, it was the crowning blow of a 6-3 Dodger victory that reduced the magic number for clinching the National League West to four.
Justin Ruggiano came over to a seemingly stunned Kershaw and gave him a big bear hug, as if to say, “Yes, it’s okay.”
“For Clayton Kershaw, he has been on an elevator of emotions,” Vin Scully said. “He appeared angry, I’m only guessing from long distance, angry, frustrated, disappointed. Then he looked depressed. And now, he has to be somewhat elated.”
"Grand Slam Heisey they call him," – Vin just now, as if that grand slam was like a 50-year-old legend.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 24, 2015
Despite the low pitch count, it had been a busy day for Kershaw. He gave up three runs for the first time since allowing four August 7 at Pittsburgh, and for the first time at Dodger Stadium since June 17 against Texas. In leaving after five innings, his MLB-record streak of 31 consecutive quality starts at home came to an end.
At the same time, he still struck out nine, giving himself 281 for the season, the highest total for a Major Leaguer since Randy Johnson struck out 290 in 2004. With two scheduled starts remaining — including one in San Francisco on September 29 — Kershaw still has a chance to become the first 300-strikeout pitcher since Johnson and Curt Schilling each topped the mark in 2002.
“He doesn’t ever want to come out,” a smiling Mattingly said after the game, adding that he expected Kershaw would have only pitched one more inning if he had been left in the game to hit.
“I’ve seen him like that before. … It never bothers me. Those guys who are competitive, want to stay in the game, that never bothers me at all. That’s just part of it. I’ve got to make that decision, he can not like it, we’ll be able to talk about it later, and it’s not going to be a big deal.
Mattingly noted that he was contemplating pinch-hitting for Kershaw in the bottom of the fourth, when if Scott Schebler had reached base, there would have been a bases-loaded, two-out situation. (Kershaw, according to Mattingly, made the point that he got a hit his last time up.)
In 240 career starts, today was the first time Kershaw went out trailing after five innings and got credited with the win. Kershaw himself declined to talk about the conflict, saying, “I’m not going to talk about that at all. If you guys want to talk about the game, I’m more than happy to talk about that.”
Given those parameters, here’s what he said:
“My curveball was terrible. I need to go back to the drawing board on that. Just a lot of two-strike hits — you can’t have that happen. They hit a couple balls hard, a few balls found holes, but you know what, they had a great gameplan.”
“I felt pretty crummy after that, and for those guys to step up like that, and Heis’ big swing of the bat right there. He’s such a gamer — I love Heis — for him to do that, in the kind of the year he’s had, it’s been unbelievable. I’m thankful, honestly. And obviously our bullpen, having to pick up four innings, did an amazing job. Definite team win, I was just happy to be a part of it.”
For Kershaw, who is third in the National League in pitches thrown this season with 3,218, today marked the fewest he had thrown in a game since a rain-shortened five-inning complete game June 8, 2014 at Colorado, when he threw 73. By innings, it was Kershaw’s shortest outing since September 19, 2014 at Wrigley Field, when he also allowed three runs in five innings.
The following start, Kershaw pitched eight innings in the division-clincher against the Giants.
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By Jon Weisman
During the day Monday, Adrian Gonzalez was named the Dodgers’ nominee for the 2015 Roberto Clemente Award, which honors “a player who best represents the game through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement.”
Lately, Gonzalez has needed to display a great deal of sportsmanship alongside athleticism to come away foul balls. First there was the one in Chicago involving a Wrigley Field fan holding a baby. Then came Monday night’s fifth-inning foul ball, which Gonzalez caught despite a Boston-capped fan nearly tearing Gonzalez’s glove off.
Gonzalez not only came away triumphant on that play, he made a nifty defensive stab to record the final out of the Dodgers’ 4-1 victory over the Rockies.
Clayton Kershaw won the award in 2012, and Jimmy Rollins shared the honor with Paul Konerko in 2014.
Here are some other bits and bunts …
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Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
A quick note before we get to today’s lengthy health recap: Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta lowered his ERA to 1.99 this afternoon. If he and Zack Greinke stay below 2.00, they’ll be the first duo to do so in the same year since Dwight Gooden (1.53) and John Tudor (1.93) in 1985.
If Clayton Kershaw (2.15) joins them, we would have the first sub-2.00 trio since Luis Tiant (1.91), Gaylord Perry (1.92) and Gary Nolan (1.99) in 1972.
Kershaw, who is next scheduled to start Monday against the Rockies, most likely has four starts left in the 2015 regular season. If he pitched a total of 24 1/3 to 28 1/3 innings, he would need to allow no more than two earned runs (0.64 ERA) to get his ERA below 2.00. If he pitched 28 2/3 to 33 innings, he could allow three runs, and if he pitched at least 33 1/3, he could allow four runs.
And now, to the Web (Gem) MD report, via manager Don Mattingly to reporters:
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By Jon Weisman
My wife has been perpetually perplexed that to her ears, I pronounce the word “ketchup” as if it were “catchup.” So with that in mind, let’s ketchup on some Dodger news …
By Jon Weisman
Given his many accomplishments and reputation as a workhorse, it’s hard to believe that Clayton Kershaw has never led the National League in innings pitched. The 2015 season could change all that.
Entering tonight’s start against the Angels, Kershaw has 194 innings to his name, with a chance to extend his slim lead over teammate Zack Greinke (192 2/3), Chicago’s Jake Arrieta (191), Washington’s Max Scherzer (190) and San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner (188 2/3).
In recent years, Kershaw has lost NL innings-pitched titles to Johnny Cueto (2014), Adam Wainwright (2013), R.A. Dickey (2012) and Chris Carpenter (2011). Kershaw never had a chance in 2014 after missing all of April with an injury, but he fell short the previous three years by six innings or less each time.
Kershaw needs at least seven innings tonight to take over the MLB lead in innings from Houston’s Dallas Keuchel, in what figures to be a game of leapfrog until the end of the season.
* * *
Yasmani Grandal just told reporters that his MRI “showed inflammation and fluid in his left shoulder,” that he would have to play with for the rest of the season, according to Bill Plunkett of the Register.
However, Grandal added that he hoped to return by this weekend’s series at Arizona.
With Angels lefty Andrew Heaney on the mound, the Dodgers are going with a right-handed-hitting outfield of Justin Ruggiano, Chris Heisey and Scott Van Slyke, along with Alex Guerrero at DH. Adrian Gonzalez and Corey Seager are the only lefties in the lineup, as Jimmy Rollins takes another day to nurse an injured knuckle on his right hand. X-rays were negative on the finger.
Dodger leadoff hitters in '15: Pederson (68 games), Rollins (52), Puig (7), Hernandez (5), Crawford (2), Turner, Heisey, Barney, Ruggiano.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 8, 2015
The all-time Dodger single-season strikeout leaderboard
By Jon Weisman
With one out remaining, the Dodger Stadium crowd stood at a full-throated roar of joy and awe.
And then held its breath, as Clayton Kershaw battled almost as never before.
Twice a strike away from a complete game, Kershaw allowed singles to Matt Duffy and Buster Posey. With the pitch count at 127, Don Mattingly came to the mound. About 15 seconds later, Mattingly went back to the dugout, alone.
Marlon Byrd stood in, and after two more pitches, Kershaw was again one strike away.
Then ball one. Then ball two.
Then, on his 132nd pitch of the game, tying his career high, a swing and a miss at an 89 mph slider. A glorious swing and miss.
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Kershaw struck out 15 in carrying the Dodgers’ to a 2-1 victory over San Francisco tonight, setting a career high for a season at 251 (breaking his old mark of 248), and giving Los Angeles the highest total of strikeouts for a year for a Dodger pitcher since Sandy Koufax struck out 317 in 1966.
The 15 whiffs also tied a career high for a single game, originally set at his June 18, 2014 no-hitter.
Kershaw induced 35 swinging strikes tonight, which SHATTERS the previous pitch fx era (2008-present) record of 30, which Kershaw co-held.
— Daniel Brim (@DanielBrim) September 3, 2015
This all came in another pressure-packed Dodgers-Giants game — the third-straight one-run win for the Dodgers, propelling them to 6 1/2 games ahead in the National League West. After Angel Pagan’s RBI single in the top of the sixth tied the game, Chase Utley hit his first Dodger homer to put Los Angeles back in front.
Kershaw lowered his ERA to 2.18, third in the big leagues. Since May 26, Kershaw has a 1.26 ERA with 178 strikeouts in 135 2/3 innings. In his past 750 innings, his ERA is 1.98.
In his past three games, Kershaw has struck out 39 batters, averaging 14.04 strikeouts per nine innings.
Kershaw paved the way for his complete game by averaging barely 12 pitches per inning for the first seven frames. He began the ninth at 107 pitches.
“It was a tough one with him,” Don Mattingly said. “His stuff was really good. Still crisp, we thought. He felt good. We felt like if there was any game we were going to let him go back out there, with Kenley and a few guys were basically down — Kenley was not available tonight — it was just a game that you felt like you were going to let him go for it. And that was it.”
When Mattingly visited the mound, he intended to leave Kershaw in the game as long as he was OK. He said he occasionally took him out early in games this year in order to save bullets for games like this.
Said Mattingly: “Utley told me, ‘You made a good decision by not taking me out.’ I was gonna get hurt.”
Kershaw wasn’t thinking about strikeouts in the ninth inning.
“I was just trying to get an out,” Kershaw said. “Those guys are great hitters, obviously. Duffy’s having a great year, and Posey’s Posey. Some good at-bats all night. They made me work that last inning, and I was fortunate to get one more out.”
Mike Bolsinger will make a spot start Friday, giving Kershaw and other Dodger starters an extra day of rest.
By Jon Weisman
A year ago, this was when Clayton Kershaw was going to reap the benefit of missing more than a month of the baseball season.
Kershaw was sidelined in 2014 from March 23 to May 6 with a Teres Major muscle strain. That stunk for April, but the upside was that with fewer innings under his belt, he’d be that much stronger for the stretch run.
This year, no such luck (good and bad). Entering his first start of September tonight, Kershaw has thrown 185 innings, nearly 15 percent more than the 161 1/3 he had at this time last season. So does he feel any different, any worse for wear?
“I think I feel the same,” Kershaw said Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t think I put much merit into (the rest angle), if I remember right, last time.”
So do the April innings matter in September and October?
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe over the course of like 10 years, but in a small sample, probably not. I wouldn’t say so. I feel fine. I think I feel the same as I did last year. As good as you can feel.”
According to Baseball-Reference.com, Kershaw has the second-lowest ERA after September 1 in Major League history since 1920. In his career, Kershaw has a 1.97 ERA after September 1, over 219 1/3 innings — roughly the equivalent of a season (click to enlarge).
If you’re wondering about his performance in the postseason, I’ve addressed that topic most recently here.
Top: The opening spread from the 13-page photo essay on Clayton Kershaw in the September issue of Dodger Insider magazine (click to enlarge).
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Jason O. Watson/Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
I’m going to say that Madison Bumgarner has had the Dodgers’ number this year.
In fact, I’m going to say that Bumgarner got that number not here at Dodger Stadium in 2015, but in Kansas City on October 29, 2014, when he completed the postseason of the ages, the postseason so many of us thought Clayton Kershaw would have.
For so long, it was Kershaw who had the Giants’ number. Through 2014, Kershaw had a 1.43 ERA against the Giants in 180 career innings, with 191 strikeouts.
Not this year. The Giants have won all three Bumgarner starts against the Dodgers this season. All three of them against Kershaw. All three of them in the so-called “What’s wrong with Kershaw?” period, the last of them in a game so twisted that it may have hit the reset button for Kershaw’s season.
On April 22, Bumgarner and Kershaw neutralized each other, each allowing two runs in six (Kershaw) or 6 1/3 (Bumgarner) innings. Before opposing pitchers had figured out Alex Guerrero the way they now seem to have, the National League’s April Rookie of the Month hit a two-run, game-tying homer off the Giants lefty. The game came down to the bullpens, with San Francisco walking off against Chris Hatcher and J.P. Howell in the bottom of the ninth.
Six days later came more of a true pitchers’ duel. Buster Posey drove in runs in the first and fourth innings off Kershaw with a single and a homer, but the Dodgers scratched across a run in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap. But there was no scoring after that, with Bumgarner putting out threats in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Then came May 21, the throw-up (your hands) game, in which Bumgarner was in trouble (seven hits and two walks in six innings) but causing trouble (homering off Kershaw in the third inning). Once again, Bumgarner’s brand of trouble won.
Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers
Since that date, in 126 2/3 innings, Kershaw has a 1.28 ERA against all comers.
Tonight, Bumgarner faces Zack Greinke. And if there’s anyone that has anyone’s number, it’s Zack Greinke vs. the Giants. As a Dodger, Greinke has a 1.96 ERA in seven games (46 innings) against San Francisco, and has never lost.
Last September, Greinke faced off against Bumgarner on September 23, in arguably the biggest game of the season, and the Dodgers won. It was a game that all but ensured the Giants would be in the National League wild-card game, on the fringe of the postseason, nearly ending Bumgarner’s October before it began.
Look at Bumgarner now. Look at Greinke now. Somehow, someone’s number is up.
By Jon Weisman
He is a man of family. A man of faith. A man of baseball. And for Clayton Kershaw, the spirit he brings to one informs the spirit he brings to all.
That’s the approach we took to our special, 13-page photo essay in the September issue of Dodger Insider magazine that highlights numerous aspects of Kershaw’s love of the game.
September also presents a package of pieces on the Dodger bullpen — but don’t be nervous. There’s a fun feature on the unique, odd-couple relationship between Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell, plus a 100-year history of the Dodger relief corps. Another story you should enjoy, written by Mark Langill, is what happens at Dodger Stadium after the final out to tuck our beloved ballpark in at night.
In all, there are more than two dozen stories in Dodger Insider magazine, plus all the usual great photos, games, tidbits and more. For $5 at the ballpark, it’s a bargain.
Dodger Insider magazine is available at all Dodger team stores.
By Jon Weisman
August 22, 2013: Vin Scully announces return, Dodgers win, 6-0.
July 29, 2014: Vin Scully announces return, Dodgers win, 8-4.
August 28, 2015: Vin Scully announces return, Dodgers win, 4-1.
I do see a trend, though it hasn’t hurt to have Clayton Kershaw on the mound for two of those three games.
Tonight, Kershaw tied a season high with 14 strikeouts — one shy of the career high he set in his June 18, 2014 no-hitter — in the Dodgers’ third victory over the Cubs in five meetings this year.
Kershaw allowed a fourth-inning home run to Anthony Rizzo that tied the game at 1, but then retired the next 10 batters he faced, striking out seven, and didn’t surrender a hit the rest of the game. He threw 108 pitches in his eight innings of work.
Though Kershaw had his 31-inning home scoreless streak broken, the big lefty finished August with a 1.24 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 45 innings. He is the first Dodger pitcher to have at least 50 strikeouts in August since Hideo Nomo in 1995, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Since May 26, Kershaw has a 1.28 ERA with 163 strikeouts in 126 2/3 innings.
Chase Utley, who tripled in the Dodgers’ first run (his first RBI with his new team) in the third inning, scored the go-ahead run from second base in the sixth on a wild pitch and throwing error. Los Angeles pushed across two more runs in the inning for breathing room.
Clayton Kershaw waits out a stadium lighting delay in Wrigley Field on June 22. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
On is the heat.
With temperatures in the 90s as a greeting, the Dodgers are preparing to host playoff contenders from Chicago and San Francisco over the next six games.
Some would call this the Dodgers’ biggest test of the year to date, though Los Angeles already played the Giants and Cubs in back-to-back series in June. The Dodgers went 3-4, which I would call a bogey, though it’s worth noting Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke pitched in only two of those seven affairs.
Here’s a quick recap of how those games went:
It was an unpredictable stretch, to say the least, and you can judge for yourself the good or bad of going 3-4 without getting a victory from Kershaw or Greinke.
In any case, here we are again with the Cubs and Giants, but this time at home, and this time with Kershaw or Greinke pitching half the games.
Kershaw, who pitches tonight and Wednesday, has …
And, Kershaw and Greinke currently have two of the top 10 single-season Dodger Stadium ERAs ever.
0.85 Sandy Koufax (1964)
1.08 Orel Hershiser (1985)
1.33 Don Sutton (1971)
1.38 Sandy Koufax (1963)
1.38 Sandy Koufax (1965)
1.39 Don Drysdale (1968)
1.42 Zack Greinke (2015)
1.49 Clayton Kershaw (2015)
1.52 Sandy Koufax (1966)
1.53 Bill Singer (1967)
It’s a scene, man.
After Kershaw pitches tonight, it’s Mat Latos, Alex Wood and Brett Anderson scheduled to go Saturday-Monday, before Greinke and Kershaw finish the homestand off.
By Jon Weisman
All at once, I feel the need to say something and say nothing.
With the contradiction of a first-place team that’s lost five straight games, my sense is that anyone who would listen to me already knows what I’m going to say, and anyone who doesn’t already know what I’m going to say won’t be convinced. People have had plenty of opportunity to hear my way of thinking, and to take it or leave it.
So maybe I’m just talking to myself here, or maybe I should be.
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
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