LOS ANGELES — There had to come a time when the San Francisco Giants subconsciously changed the way they perceived Clayton Kershaw.
On a per-game basis, sure, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ left-handed ace was always an at ’em-boys foe to be assailed. In the broader scope, as he began to own them like no pitcher in the live-ball era has ever owned an opposing team, he became something to be endured. He became a walking root canal. On so many afternoons or evenings when Kershaw went the distance or struck out double digits or delivered nitro noogies to their lineup, there might have been just one hopeful thought the Giants could conjure.
Eventually, it’ll end.
The end was what 53,037 fans packed Dodger Stadium on Friday night to witness. Kershaw was making his final regular-season start in the pulsating, concrete sound chamber where so many of his strikeouts had been punctuated by the aggressive spiccato of Beethoven’s Fifth. Unlike the past few surgery-scarred Septembers, there was no need for conjecture this time. Kershaw had given his fans the gift of inevitability. A day earlier, in a press conference that included a few eye-wiping pauses, Kershaw announced his intention to retire at the end of the season. When you know it’s a final farewell, you don’t hold anything back.
Kershaw was cheered from the moment he stepped onto the field to begin his pre-start stretching routine to his final act on the mound when he froze Rafael Devers with a generously called fastball at the knees to start the fifth inning. It hardly mattered to the sellout crowd that Heliot Ramos overstepped the role of faceless jobber while hitting the third pitch of the game deep into the left field pavilion for a 431-foot home run. It didn’t matter to them that Kershaw walked off the mound trailing 2-1, either. The stadium was awash in throaty tribute as Kershaw handed the baseball to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who handed it back as a keepsake. Kershaw pantomimed a hug as he surveyed the three-decked stands. He blew kisses. He went through a receiving line of embraces from teammates and coaches in the dugout, then he ascended the steps for one last, thunderous curtain call.
And that was it. The Giants never truly solved Kershaw on the mound. But at least they were finished enduring him. Finally, they were rid of the opposing pitcher who had represented the ultimate thorn in their side.
Then Shohei Ohtani tapped them on the shoulder with a rude reminder. If Kershaw was a thorn, then Ohtani is Vlad the Impaler.
Ohtani flicked his bat and hit a three-run home run off left-hander Robbie Ray that cleared the short fence in the left-field corner, putting the Dodgers ahead in the fifth inning and ensuring that Kershaw would not take a losing decision on his feast day. The Giants could not recover while absorbing a 6-3 loss that reduced their postseason hopes from faint to win-the-Megabillions rare.
The Giants endured Kershaw for 18 seasons. Now let’s see. The Dodgers only have Ohtani under contract for … eight more?
“I mean, I put it on the black,” Ray said. “He put a good swing on it. If it’s not down the line, it’s probably not a homer. But he caught it deep enough to where it was able to get over the wall.”
“It looked like he just flicked it, almost like he was trying to foul it off and he hit it to left field, several rows deep,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “So obviously, he’s strong. Obviously, he can hit it to all fields. Robbie’s actually had a decent time with him as far as the matchup goes. He just let it travel a bit and just kind of flicked it out there. And that was the turning point in the game.”
Giants president Buster Posey faced Kershaw more than any major-league hitter, and while he won his share of battles (three home runs, three doubles, just 19 strikeouts in 113 at-bats), he was otherwise reduced to replacement-level production (.221 average, .267 on-base percentage). Posey said he would watch intently as Kershaw warmed up, looking for any weakness to exploit. Kershaw was one of the most challenging pitchers that Posey ever faced.
But facing Kershaw was a piece of cake compared to the daunting task that is before Posey now.
The Giants will have all the usual roster conundrums to solve this offseason. They’ll have to rebuild a rotation that is unsettled beyond Ray, Logan Webb, and perhaps Landen Roupp. The bullpen requires a complete reconstruction. A center-field solution that could push Jung Hoo Lee to a corner wouldn’t hurt. Although Posey scored a major victory in June when he traded for Rafael Devers, acquiring the kind of impact hitter that three of his predecessors could not, the Giants clearly need more heft in their lineup.
The biggest conundrum might be unsolvable. How do the Giants hope to get on the same level as their archrivals? How do they close the gap with the Dodgers, who are cruising to their 12th division title in 13 years? How can they possibly make that a reachable goal, in the short term or otherwise, when the Dodgers have the greatest two-way talent the game has ever seen?
Ohtani’s home run was his 52nd of the year. He scored his 139th run. He has a chance to become the third player since World War II (joining Jeff Bagwell in 2000 and Ted Williams in 1949) to score 150 runs in a season. He also threw five no-hit innings against the Philadelphia Phillies last Tuesday. So for this weekend series, at least, he won’t pick up the mantle from Kershaw and torment the Giants from the mound.
Ohtani is off to a good start against them, though. He is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in three career starts against the Giants, including three scoreless innings this season. At the plate? He’s batting .316/.420/.663 with nine home runs and 18 RBIs in 112 plate appearances.
Ouch. At least you get Novocaine with a root canal.
Oh, and it’s not as if the Giants can walk Ohtani every time. Mookie Betts followed Ohtani’s homer by going deep on the very next pitch.
“We have ideas how we can (get him out,” Melvin said. “I’m not going to go over what the scouting report is, but obviously you have to be careful in some situations with him.”
The most hopeful truth is that the Giants do not necessarily have to go through Ohtani and the Dodgers to hoist another trophy. A three-wild-card format offers forgiveness. But the Giants are like any business. They want satisfied customers. And they know that some fans will always view their satisfaction through the lens of the rivalry. For all the positives the Giants can take away from this season, a 12-25 record against the three NL West teams that are trying to win (6-7 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-10 against the San Diego Padres, 3-8 against the Dodgers with two to play) shows how far they still have to go.
It’s a relief that they no longer have to cross swords with Kershaw. Except now they must engage in hand-to-hand combat with a walking heavy-infantry tank.
The respect for Kershaw might have been grudging at times, but it was constant. It was reciprocal, too. Kershaw executed his exit with perfect grace, acknowledging plate umpire Lance Barksdale for turning off the pitch clock and tipping his cap to the visiting dugout, where every Giants player and coach was standing at the rail and applauding.
“That’s who he is,” Melvin said. “He’s a pro’s pro. He’s been doing it for a long time and he’s got respect around the league. Stuff like that is the reason why.”
(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)