Steve Webb
Oh my! After whatever-the-heck-that-was last night, the Dodgers and Padres decided to engage in a good ol’ fashioned pitchers’ duel on Saturday night, and even that turned out to be edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting baseball. Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish, former teammates and good friends, were the ones who locked horns tonight. And what a glorious match-up it was. The only blemish on either pitcher’s scorecard was a two-out, bases-loaded walk that Kershaw was able to coax out of Darvish in the fifth inning. The Dodgers added a much needed insurance run in the top of the ninth on yet another April bomb from Justin Turner to make score 2-0. And in bottom of that frame, Mookie Betts‘ flashed the leather to save a win.
Both Pitchers Dealing Early
The first four innings went innocently enough, with Kersh and Darvish matching each other pitch for pitch. If anything, the former Dodger Darvish was a skosh better in the early going, as he perfectly navigated the first time through the Dodger batting order. Nine up, Nine down. Kershaw had to pitch around a little trouble here and there, but was aided by some good defense and a couple of generous calls from the home plate umpire.
Don’t Get Clayton Angry
The turning point of the game surely came in the bottom of the fourth, when Kershaw appeared to have struck out Jurickson Profar, who made a weak swing on a 3-2 pitch. As the Dodgers headed off the field, Profar complained to the home plate umpire Tom Hallion. On replay, it looked a lot like Profar knew he was beaten on the pitch, and intentionally hit catcher Austin Barnes‘s mitt with his bat, hoping for an interference call.
That’s just what he got. Profar was awarded first base, but Kershaw was none too happy about the situation. “That a b-llsh-t swing!” Kershaw could be seen yelling at Profar, who was now camped on first base. Profar came off the bag and had a few choice words of his own for Kershaw. There was a lot of milling about and heated discussion, but the interference call stood up. It was one of those “letter-of-the-law” rulings that completely perverted the point of the rule. Though Kershaw got the next hitter to fly out and end the inning, it was obvious that he wanted to make the Padres pay for this injustice.
Sweet Revenge
And pay they would. In the very next inning. After two quick outs, the Dodgers loaded the bases on an HBP, a single from Luke Raley (the Dodgers’ first hit of the game), and a walk to Austin Barnes. And who should stroll into the batter’s box but Number 22, eager for payback.
In an epic at-bat (at least by pitchers’ standards), Kershaw hung in there against the Padres ace, fouling off pitches to work the count to 3-2. Then on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Kershaw took an off speed pitch just off the plate for ball four. It was probably the most exciting walk of an opposing pitcher in recent memory. Zach McKinstry strolled across home plate to put the Dodgers up 1-0.
Darvish and Kershaw would battle for a couple more innings, but both men would leave the game with that 1-0 score unchanged. Darvish’s line for the night: 7 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 9 K. Kershaw didn’t last quite as long, but his line was equally impressive. 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 8 K. It was a shame that Darvish, who pitched so magnificently should be saddled with the loss, but such is life on the diamond.
The Dodgers relief corps, still undermanned from Friday’s marathon game, pitched three scoreless, but dramatic innings. First man out, Jimmy Nelson was wild, but somehow managed to strikeout the side after giving up a lead off walk in the seventh. Blake Treinen pitched a perfect eighth, and the game went into the ninth inning with Dodgers clinging to the one-run margin.
JT Adds a Solo Shot
Justin Turner led off the visitors’ half of the final frame. He reached out and smashed a 2-2 fastball from Emilio Pagan into the left field seats. This was Turner’s fifth home run in the young season, and already, he’s making Andrew Friedman look like a genius for signing him to return to the club for the next two years.
Even more drama lay in store for the fans in the bottom of the ninth. With a two-run cushion, manager Dave Roberts decided to leave Treinen in the game. He struck out leadoff hitter Manny Machado, but then gave up a single to hot-hitting Wil Myers. Roberts had seen enough, and lifted Treinen for Victor Gonzalez.
A Nail-biting Ninth
Gonzalez, who got the win in the Dodgers’ clinching game of the last year’s World Series, was trying for his first big-league save. He promptly walked bad boy Jurickson Profar, and suddenly the tying runs were on base. He got a ground ball to the right side from Jake Croneworth for the second out, but both runners advanced into scoring position. Tommy Pham came to the plate.
The normally reliable Pham is off to a horrible start this season, so he was eager to get a little redemption with a big hit in a clutch spot. And on an 0-1 pitch from Gonzalez, he seemed to have done just that. He ripped a line drive into center field that seemed destined to find the grass and score two runs. However, nobody told that to Mookie Betts. Playing center tonight, Betts closed fast on the ball and dived to his left. He managed to get juuuuust enough leather under the ball to make it a legit catch. By inches, the game was over.
The Dodgers won their eighth straight game tonight and are assured of a series win, regardless of the outcome of the series finale. God only knows what these two powerhouses have in store for us on Sunday. And just for fun, how about we throw Trevor Bauer and Blake Snell into the mix for tomorrow?
I am Here. For. It.
