Kershaw yields 6 runs in 'embarrassing' Game 1 start

LOS ANGELES -- For more than a decade, Clayton Kershaw has been the player who has made the organization run. Over his illustrious career, Kershaw has come through for the Dodgers time and time again.

As they entered the postseason with a depleted starting rotation, the Dodgers were, once again, turning to Kershaw to save the day. This time, however, the left-hander couldn’t come through.

Kershaw allowed six runs and recorded just one out in the 11-2 loss against the D-backs in Saturday’s Game 1 of the NLDS, perhaps the worst start of his career. He became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow five or more runs before recording an out.

"Just disappointing. Embarrassing,” Kershaw said. “You just feel like you let everybody down, guys in the whole organization that look to you to pitch well in Game 1. It's just embarrassing, really. I just feel like I let everybody down.”

Before the game at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw was feeling the best he has in months. That was an inspiring message, given Kershaw’s left shoulder was clearly not 100 percent just a few weeks ago. The Dodgers held their collective breaths every time he went out on the mound.

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But on Saturday, it was obvious from the start that Kershaw didn’t have his best stuff. His slider didn’t have its usual depth, his curveball was flatter than usual and his four-seam fastball, which has seen a dip in velocity following the shoulder injury, wasn’t getting any swing and miss.

That was a recipe for disaster and the D-backs’ offense capitalized on every mistake Kershaw -- and the Dodgers defense -- made.

Ketel Marte got the game started with a ringing liner to center field. James Outman, who has been much improved at the position in the second half of the season, looked like he had a bead on the ball, but it ricocheted off his glove, allowing Marte to reach second base.

Two pitches later, Corbin Carroll made the Dodgers pay with an RBI single. Tommy Pham followed with a single of his own. Christian Walker, who has dominated Kershaw throughout his career, then doubled to give the D-backs a 2-0 lead. Gabriel Moreno then delivered the stunning blow on a 3-2 count, smashing a three-run homer that landed 15 rows up the left-field pavilion.

After an Alek Thomas walk and an RBI double by Evan Longoria, Roberts saw enough and took the ball from Kershaw after just 35 pitches. The sold-out crowd at Dodger Stadium, the same one that has seen numerous historic performances from Kershaw in the past, was in complete shock.

“You look at Clayton Kershaw, he’s arguably one of the best pitchers ever,” said Dodgers catcher Will Smith. “But he’s human. He makes mistakes. So I expect him to come back in a few days ready to go. He won’t miss those.”

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Of the 35 pitches Kershaw threw on Saturday, he got just five swings and misses. All seven balls put in play against Kershaw were considered hard-hit balls, all having exit velocities of 95 mph or higher.

It’s the seventh time in Kershaw’s career that he allowed five or more earned runs in a postseason game. It’s the first time Kershaw has given up six runs in a postseason inning since the seventh frame of Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS against the Cardinals.

Kershaw’s one-third of an inning marked the shortest start of his postseason career. The left-hander also confirmed that the performance was strictly based on poor execution and not a physical ailment. Roberts went on to say Kershaw will be back on the mound if there’s a Game 4.

“I thought tonight, if you look at the stuff, the velocity, I thought you didn't get too much of a look at him, but I thought the stuff was good. Just some mistakes that they capitalized on,” Roberts said. “He’s going to pitch Game 4. So I’m sure that’s where his head’s at.”

With the energy sapped out of the building, the Dodgers’ offense was never able to get the crowd back into the game, save for Will Smith’s two-run triple in the eighth. The Dodgers weren’t able to put anything together against right-hander Merrill Kelly, who went 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The top five hitters in the Dodgers’ order combined to go 2-for-16 with four walks and Smith’s two RBIs.

The Dodgers are the 16th team in postseason history to lose Game 1 of a postseason series by nine or more runs. Only six have come back to win the series and none since the Rangers in the 2011 ALDS.

“It's a tough way to start the postseason,” Kershaw said. “Obviously we still have a chance at this thing. But that was -- yeah, that wasn't the way it should've started for me."

One of the Dodgers’ top characteristics this season was their ability to respond when an opponent threw a big punch. They had no answers after Kershaw’s disastrous first inning. They’ll need to find them in Game 2 or they could be facing elimination much sooner than they ever envisioned.

“I don’t think anybody in the baseball world was expecting that,” said Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. “But the next time Clayton Kershaw is on that mound we’ll be just as confident again. Hopefully we can get him back on that mound.”