After losing Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he anticipated all pitchers but Hyun-Jin Ryu being available for the win-or-go-home Game 7.
Roberts followed that up hours before first pitch on Saturday and said he didn’t see a scenario where Clayton Kershaw would not be used out of the bullpen. The Dodgers had been down this path before, with Kershaw last pitching in relief in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.
Prior to that, he closed out Game 5 of the 2016 NL Division Series to eliminate the Washington Nationals and send the Dodgers to the NLCS for the first time since 2013.
The Dodgers went to Kenley Jansen with two outs in the seventh inning, putting the wheels in motion for Kershaw to potentially convert a second career save. Sure enough, after Jansen worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, Kershaw entered in the ninth.
He worked a perfect inning to clinch the Dodgers’ second consecutive trip to the World Series. While he could enjoy the team’s accomplishment, Jansen made light of the situation as he was in unfamiliar territory, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
Kenley Jansen on watching Clayton Kershaw close: "I hate to be the passenger. I like to fly the plane. Now I know how everybody feels when I am out there getting those last three outs."
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) October 21, 2018
Although it includes the inning from Kershaw, the Dodgers bullpen posted a 1.45 ERA over 31 innings pitched in the NLCS.
Jansen continued to put his regular-season struggles further behind him, recording two saves and tossing 4.2 innings across four appearances in the NLCS.
Want to get your content COMPLETELY AD FREE? Click here to follow us on Apple News!
