Clayton Kershaw, like the Dodgers team as a whole, took a step back in 2018, although they were both still good enough to accomplish similar goals. Kershaw delivered another sub-3.00 ERA, and the Dodgers saw their most difficult division title of this whole Andrew Friedman era come to pass, needing a Game 163 at home to beat out the Colorado Rockies for the NL West crown. A team that severely underperformed its pythagorean win-loss record, winning only 92 games when it indicated it should\u2019ve crossed the 100-win threshold, the Dodgers entered the playoffs without the gravitas of the previous campaign but were still seen as a top candidate to reach the Fall Classic.<\/p>\n
The year 2018 marked the first time Kershaw could legitimately be seen as no longer the top option in the Dodgers rotation. Walker Buehler was beyond magnificent in his rookie campaign, starting that decisive Game 163 in a win over Colorado, and it was Hyun Jin-Ryu taking the ball in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Braves after a 1.97 ERA in 15 starts.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
As if to have his Michael Jordan\u2019s \u201cand then it became personal to me\u201d moment, Kershaw started game 2 of that NLDS against Atlanta with a vengeance, delivering one of the most efficient postseason outings in the 21st century, covering eight scoreless frames while needing a mere 85 pitches to do so, largely explained by his standard no walks and a surprising only three strikeouts. Still, the Dodgers already led that series 1-0, and for as great as Kershaw was, this wasn\u2019t his most memorable outing during that World Series run.<\/p>\n
Quick, if someone tells you to think of the first thing that comes to your mind when hearing the mention of Kershaw against the Brewers in the postseason? You, like me and so many others, might\u2019ve thought about pitcher Brandon Woodruff taking him yard with a home run in Milwaukee<\/a>, worthy of the game\u2019s premier left-handed sluggers. While the rarity of that moment holds merit, when you assess Kershaw\u2019s track record against the Brewers in the playoffs, there\u2019s a rather transparent argument that it stands out due to the narrative around Kershaw in the playoffs in our subconscious \u2014 a narrative built largely on undeniable facts, but one that, at the very least, glosses over the entire story by skipping a few chapters in a quite rude manner. Although not as dominant as in his Wild Card performance in 2020, Kershaw\u2019s most important postseason performance against the Brewers came in Game 5 of the NLCS in 2018.<\/p>\n I had the idea to do a series along these lines for quite a while, and when going back to check Kershaw\u2019s postseason record, none of the previous games we\u2019ve covered stood out as much as this one. For whatever the case, I remembered Kershaw doing well in that Game 5, but not as well as he actually did in what was a pivotal win in a series then tied 2-2 and headed to Milwaukee with someone owning a match point.<\/p>\n The script had been written, the stage was set, and even the \u201cvillain\u201d had been properly introduced shortly into the proceedings with a change of starters. Craig Counsell quickly revealed Wade Miley was simply a decoy and threw Woodruff in to cover the bulk of innings one out into the start of the game for the Dodger hitters\u2014the same Woodruff who had homered off Kershaw as the Brew Crew hit around the three-time Cy Young winner in Game 1 of that series.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n For those paying attention, there is a consistency from the start of this series of articles: thin margins for Kershaw in each one of these great postseason performances. A large part of why I\u2019m so dismissive of the idea of any logical explanation behind the general struggles of Kershaw in the playoffs is that, on the times he was at his best, of which there were plenty, as we\u2019ve seen, those games were some of the more tightly contested the Dodgers have played, upping the pressure to the nth degree.<\/p>\n Milwaukee scored first in Game 5, once again propelled by a positive at-bat from the hitting pitcher Woodruff, whose one-out walk helped pass the baton to Lorenzo Cain, driving in one on a double \u2014 a hit that generated a two-on, one-out situation for Kershaw to navigate through against the heart of the order for Milwaukee. The rally knocked on the door of the future Hall of Famer, and he shut it down with a couple of strikeouts against Christian Yelich and Jes\u00fas Aguilar in the middle of a Ryan Braun walk to end the threat.<\/p>\n