After dropping the four-game series opener to the Miami Marlins on Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers handed the ball to ace Clayton Kershaw, only for him to endure an uncharacteristic inning.
The 28-year-old lefty was cruising going into the sixth inning. Up to that point, he had provided five scoreless innings and was his dominant self, racking up eight strikeouts.
With the Dodgers leading 3-0, Kershaw gave up a succession of hits that ended on a Giancarlo Stanton home run and with the Marlins ahead, 5-3. For the first time in his career, the southpaw allowed five consecutive hits and watched the Dodgers’ lead slip fade away.
Kershaw didn’t shy away from his struggles in the sixth inning during a postgame interview, taking responsibility for leaving pitches over the plate and failing to protect the lead he’d been given, and contributed to with an RBI double.
Stanton acknowledged the game Kershaw was putting together led to a belief the left-handed ace would walk away with a win, according to Joe Frisaro and Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“He was dominating early, so you get the sense he was going to take this game with him, and call it a night,” Stanton said. “But how quickly you can turn things around like that is a big plus.”
Don Mattingly, whose club can earn a series win with a victory on Wednesday night, said Kershaw allowing a big inning is far from a common occurrence:
“Obviously, it’s good to be on this side of it,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of getting to Kershaw. “It doesn’t happen too often.”
The Dodgers got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Corey Seager grounded out to finish the Marlins’ 6-3 win. Los Angeles sends Scott Kazmir to the hill Wendesday, and Kenta Maeda in the series finale on Thursday.
Miami counters with Justin Nicolino, who was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans, and Jose Fernandez, respectively.
