The words Clayton Kershaw and Postseason aren’t often sued together positively, as the Los Angeles Dodgers ace has often struggled to replicate his success from the regular season in the playoffs.
Kershaw’s postseason meltdowns are well-documented and he looked far from great just a week ago in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves, so there were some concerns about how he’d fare in Game 1 of the World Series vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.
Gladly, the southpaw superstar was incredibly dominantfrom start to finish, throwing 6 innings and allowing just 2 hits and one earned run while striking out 8 Rays, leading his team to an 8-3 victory in the first of the series.
Clayton Kershaw, 91mph Fastball and 87mph Slider, Overlay. pic.twitter.com/NLtuD4T7hX
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 21, 2020
Clayton Kershaw Reaches Multiple Milestones In Dominant Outing In Game 1 Of The World Series
That was Clayton Kershaw’s 200th Postseason strikeout. He joins Justin Verlander as the only two pitchers with 200+ Postseason strikeouts. #WorldSeries #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/bZVdlDjDN8
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) October 21, 2020
With his 8 strikeouts, the 32-year-old ace joined Justin Verlander as the only pitchers to ever strike out 200+ batters in the history of the postseason, taking down John Smoltz for second in the all-time list.
Rays hitters missed on 19 of their 38 swings against Clayton Kershaw tonight.
It’s the first game in Kershaw’s career (regular or postseason) that hitters missed on 50% of their swings against him (min. 25 pitches). pic.twitter.com/mimfgkjqv5
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 21, 2020
Moreover, this was the first time in his career (regular season or postseason)that his opponents swung and missed in 50+% of his throws, as they just couldn’t get the ball on 19 out of their 38 swings.
With his 12th #postseason victory, Clayton Kershaw is now tied for 5th-most wins (Roger Clemens). pic.twitter.com/lFn9JTZZj4
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 21, 2020
And if that wasn’t enough, Kershaw reached his 12th career victory in the postseason, tying Hall of Famer Roger Clemens at the fifth spot in the all-time list as well, also taking his record to .500 for the first time in a while (12-12). So yeah, so much for that Kershaw Curse.
The job isn’t done yet and the Dodgers don’t have any time to celebrate or be overconfident, as they’ll have to suit up tonight again for the second game of the World Series vs a resilient and hardnosed team that won’t go down without a fight.
