Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Clayton Kershaw was incredible on three days rest, right up until the second he wasn’t. I thought it was weird that there were no lefties warming when Matt Adams hit that homer — Pedro Baez & Carlos Frias were — but I also don’t imagine that anyone was really dying for J.P. Howell or Scott Elbert, either. In a right and just world, Kershaw would have been out by then, but Don Mattingly doesn’t trust his bullpen, and there is absolutely no coherent reason to suggest that he should have. (And good holy lord, stop asking me about Dan Haren, Twitter, or even Kenley Jansen, because no manager in the world does that in the seventh.)
Andre Ethier got on base twice, and got stupidly thrown out on the bases once. The replay that called him out was slightly questionable, but that the Cardinals got screwed on a ball that clearly hit Kolten Wong in the batter’s box more than makes up for it. Yasiel Puig never got to bat, appearing as a runner for A.J. Ellis in the ninth, with Justin Turner instead hitting for the pitcher. Yes, that’s a real thing that happened. Other than a well-placed Juan Uribe single, the Dodgers offense did very little, yet again. Even when they did, the atrocious Fox Sports 1 broadcast barely cared to show it.
I don’t really want to give this game a thorough review. It doesn’t matter anymore. I absolutely cannot believe how this NLDS played out, every single night. I imagine things will look a little different, the next time we see Dodger baseball.
Thanks for your patronage of the first season of Dodgers Digest. I’m going to go throw up.
