Punishing Phillies Teach Kershaw Lesson

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw stood in the clubhouse in front of what must have seemed like a hundred reporters, all pointing cameras, recorders and notebooks at him, firing the same question over and over. And every time they asked, he had the same answer, which was really no answer at all.

"I don't know exactly what happened."

To the Dodgers' 21-year-old left-hander, what had transpired a couple hours earlier -- four brilliant innings capped by one disastrous one -- was still a mystery. He had no idea how he could be so good and then so awful.

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Kershaw could have walked down the hall to the Phillies clubhouse and asked Cole Hamels, another lefty who not long ago was Kershaw. Hamels was the uber-talent searching for all the right mental pieces to become a complete package. As Hamels watched Kershaw melt down in the fifth inning of the Phillies' 8-6 win in Game 1 of the NLCS on Thursday night, Hamels knew exactly what he was seeing.

Still, Torre went with his gut about Kershaw's guts, instead of his oft-repeated mantra of managing in the playoffs, that there are no long leashes for starting pitchers in October.
"You are trying to be perfect because you've gotten yourself into some trouble," Hamels said. "You give up a run here or there. All of a sudden, I swear, it's like the strike zone gets smaller. It's nerve-wracking. You know how important these games are. You can't train yourself enough for games in these situations."

So maybe Kershaw learned something and there will be some long-term benefit for the Dodgers. When he's 25, like Hamels, he'll know better. Maybe by then he'll have two postseason MVP awards and a World Series ring, like Hamels. For now, though, all Kershaw has is the empty feeling of a pitcher who let his team down.

Manager Joe Torre had picked Kershaw for the start not only because of his stuff, but because he had showed the maturity to handle big situations by beating the Rockies in a game to clinch the division and by pitching well against the Cardinals in the Division Series.

Kershaw had made his manager look brilliant as he buzzed through the Phillies order for four innings, snapping their bats and setting them down with relative ease. In the fifth, though, everything disintegrated. Kershaw gave up a hit to Raul Ibañez and walked Pedro Feliz -- and it takes some work to walk the free-swinging Phillies third baseman -- and then he fell behind No. 8 hitter Carlos Ruiz and left a fastball up in his happy zone.

Bang. Three-run homer. The first Kershaw had allowed since 2008. Phillies 3, Dodgers 1.

Kershaw then walked Hamels. If that's not a sign of the pitching apocalypse, what is? Still, Torre went with his gut about Kershaw's guts, instead of his oft-repeated mantra of managing in the playoffs, that there are no long leashes for starting pitchers in October. Just a week ago Torre proved exactly that point when he pulled a struggling Randy Wolf in the fourth inning of a game the Dodgers led 3-2 against the Cardinals. This time, though, Torre let Kershaw keep going against the top of the Phillies' lineup. He got Jimmy Rollins and struck out Shane Victorino, bringing up lefties Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Red warning lights may have been blinking with those hitters due, but still, Torre's choice was the left-handed Kershaw or the left-handed Scott Elbert, who was warm in the 'pen.


"I have to make a decision whether I want Scott Elbert to pitch to them or Clayton Kershaw," Torre said, making the comparison sound ridiculous. "To me, [Kershaw] is a starting pitcher in Game 1, so I felt that's what I wanted to do."

Torre added: "This young man, I trust him a great deal. And it just didn't work out tonight."

Kershaw walked Utley, and gave up a two-run double to Howard, turning a 3-1 lead into a 5-1 lead. Even facing the Phillies' porous bullpen, overcoming a four-run deficit is a tough task.. The Dodgers did get back within 5-4 on Manny Ramirez's stirring two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, but they could never get the game tied. The Phillies pushed the lead even more when Ibañez hit a three-run homer against the heretofore unhittable George Sherrill in the eighth. It was the first homer Sherrill had allowed to a lefty all year.

Between Kershaw's struggles and Sherrill's, it was a night that proved that the Dodgers pitchers are not the dominant force they may have seemed to be. Their major league-best 3.41 ERA was meaningless on this night against the Phillies' deep and punishing lineup. The Dodgers had allowed as many as eight runs only 15 times all year, fewest in the majors.

Good pitching vs. good hitting: "Something has to give," Rollins said. "Something has to give. It always works that way."

Rollins said the Phillies' plan all along was to wait out Kershaw. As good as he was pitching in the first four innings, they knew that he would eventually crack. And he did. Big time.

"He was able to get the pitches where he wanted to up, throw a lot of strikes, get the curveball over for strikes [in the first four innings]," Rollins said. "We continue to let him work like that, and eventually he'll give us something."