Clayton Kershaw took the ball in Game 4. He did so on three day’s rest as he worked through six flawless innings giving up no earned runs. Although two runs were scored while he was on the mound, it is due to the Dodgers’ infield error.
At first glance I thought this was dumb decision. Why throw ace out there on short rest in the ALDS, up 2-1 in series. A loss in Game 4 would not have been catastrophic, they would still be able to win game 5 and move on.
Yet the Dodgers decided to take this series and even the playoffs by the horn. Pitching Kershaw gave them an exponentially greater chance to win game 4. A win and the Dodgers, don’t need to go back to Atlanta, three days without a game, and they get to throw Grienke and Kershaw in games 1, 2, 5, 6 and possibly 7 in the NLCS if need be. In addition to having Kershaw ready to in Game 1 of the World Series.
It would have been even better if they could have got the win without Kershaw needing to go on short rest, but the win would have been much harder and less realistic without Clayton. I know everyone in L.A. was worried that since he had never pitched on three days rest, Game 4 might be a struggle. Well it wasn’t a problem for the best pitcher in baseball.
For either Pittsburgh or St.. Louis, which ever wins tonight, they will have to pick up a scouting report that reads
Game 1: Zach Grienke – Game 2: Clayton Kershaw (on full rest).
Best of luck guys coming back from down 2-0.
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The Red Sox basically swept the Rays except for the fact that they lost Game three. They throughly dominated the Rays and most of that was because of their unrelenting pitching depth.
Different from the Dodgers, the Red Sox do not in any way have the horses at the top of the rotation. They instead have depth that will wear you down.
Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buckholtz, and Jake Peavy is what the Red Sox will throw at you in every series. On any given night any of these guys can shut down your line-up. They all have “stuff” as those in the baseball business would say.
However, at the same time these guys are not going to give you great outings each time. However they will grind out every start and not let games get out of hand. In Game 2 and 3, Lackey and Buckholtz did not have their best stuff, but hung in there
They each got through five plus innings keeping the Rays under four runs and giving the Red Sox a great chance to win each game. On the outset that doesn’t seem impressive, but with explosiveness of the Red Sox offense, they were able to stay in both games. In addition getting through at least five innings allowed the Red Sox to conserve their bullpen to some extent.
Compare those “bad” outings with most playoff teams bad outings so far and Lackey or Buckholtz might be up for a playoff MVP awards.
Tampa Bay: Matt Moore – 4.1 IP, 7 ERs
Detroit: Anibal Sanchez – 4.1 IP, 5 ERs
St. Louis: Lance Lynn – 4.1 IP, 5 ERs
Pittsburgh: A.J. Burnett – 2 IP, 7 ERs
Atlanta: Julio Tehran – 2.2 IP, 6 ERs
Los Angeles: Hyun-Jin Ryu – 3 IP, 4 ERs
These guys cost their teams the game and burned their bullpens. Not exactly what you want out of a playoff starter.
The only team not listed on here is Oakland whose outlook is similar to Boston’s. Their starters ERA this postseason sits at 3.24, slightly ahead of Boston. Their guys are younger so they could be unpredictable if Oakland moves on.
You can poke a hole in this arguement by saying that Boston’s regular season ERA was at the bottom of the league and I will counter that they were injured at times, didn’t get Peavy until August, and Ryan Dempster had to run out there every five days. (Very unnecessary shot at Dempster, sorry)
So when the Red Sox play the Dodgers in the World Series for the first time since 1916 (It is destined to happened), it will be a pitchers battle.
L.A’s aces verse Boston’s depth. Hollywood verse Blue Collar. It will be fun.
