WASHINGTON (AP) — Clayton Kershaw was hardly at his best.
Nothing new when it comes to October.
He allowed eight hits and three runs. He needed 101 pitches just to make it through five innings. His career postseason ERA even rose a bit, up to 4.65.
Didn’t matter a bit to the lefty. Only this did: He earned a rare playoff victory.
Backed by early homers from rookie sensation Corey Seager and Justin Turner off Max Scherzer in a matchup of Cy Young Award winners that promised more than it delivered, Kershaw helped the Los Angeles Dodgers edge the Washington Nationals 4-3 Friday in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.
“It was a grind. A lot of guys on base all the time. Definitely wasn’t easy,” Kershaw said. “As close as you can bend without breaking, I guess.”
His work done, Kershaw was able to relax in the dugout, chewing gum and blowing bubbles while watching relievers Joe Blanton, Grant Dayton, Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen combine to give up one hit over four scoreless innings. Jansen got his first five-out save since April.
“Whatever we’ve got to do to win, right? Those guys are up to the challenge,” Seager said about LA’s bullpen. “And they’ve been up to it all year.”
Game 2 in the best-of-five matchup is Saturday at Washington.
Facing the NL East champs, Kershaw’s three runs might not sound like an exorbitant total, but an opponent scored that many only once in the lefty’s preceding 16 starts. And there was a stop-and-start feel to the evening, because of plenty of boo-inducing mound visits from catcher Yasmani Grandal.
“I wanted to be sure on the signs. We were trying to change ’em up pretty often,” said Kershaw, who improved to 3-6 in the playoffs , a far cry from his regular-season record of 126-60 with a 2.37 ERA and three Cy Young Awards. “It was mainly that I had so many guys on second base.”
Certainly did.
Kershaw left the bases loaded in the second, and stranded two runners in both the third and fifth — striking out Danny Espinosa along the way each time.
“We had him on the ropes a couple times,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said, “and, you know, the big hit just escaped us.”
There was also a baserunning blunder by NL MVP contender Daniel Murphy in the seventh inning.
Murphy, who hadn’t started a game since Sept. 17 because of a strained glute muscle, reached when Baez walked him, but then was thrown out trying to steal second. Baker said it was Murphy’s decision to run there and acknowledged being surprised by the attempt.
“There’s two choices on that,” Murphy said. “Either be safe or don’t run.”
In all, Washington went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
That meant the Nationals repeatedly let Kershaw off the hook. He sat out more than two months with a bad back before returning to the NL West winners in September and hadn’t thrown more than 91 pitches since coming back.
So what if he struggled?
“It feels good to win, and it feels good to win in this situation,” Kershaw said. “If I had pitched seven shutout innings and we lost, it’s a different feeling. At this time of year, you kind of just throw the stats out the window and you just win the game.”
He was staked to a 4-0 lead thanks mainly to Seager and Turner, before slowly giving back most of that margin.
Kershaw allowed only one stolen base during 149 innings in the regular season, then allowed two on a single pitch in the third, when Bryce Harper (who had doubled) and Jayson Werth (who had walked) moved up. That became big when Anthony Rendon ripped a single to left field on a slider that didn’t really slide, bringing both runners home and getting Washington to 4-2.
Trea Turner’s sacrifice fly in the fourth cut LA’s lead to a run.
Like Washington’s Turner, LA’s Seager is a rookie who has not played like one all year long.
On the first pitch he saw from Scherzer, Seager turned on a 97 mph fastball and hit it to the deepest part of Nationals Park, beyond the 402-foot sign in center field, for a 1-0 lead.
Scherzer plunked the next batter, Justin Turner, on the left arm. For whatever reason, the 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner for Detroit — and a 20-game winner who’s a leading contender for the NL honor this year — never truly settled in.
The Dodgers made it 4-0 in the third on Chase Utley’s RBI single, then Justin Turner’s two-run shot on a 77 mph curveball. The ball sailed over the head of Werth, who jumped in vain to try to make a grab, then slammed his glove against the left-field wall.
Homers have been Scherzer’s biggest problem the past two seasons: He allowed 27 in 2015, and a major league-high 31 in 2016.
“I made some mistakes, and they cost me,” Scherzer said. “I take ownership of that, and I’m accountable for that.”
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Rangers seemed to have everything lined up perfectly going into the postseason, with their two aces ready to go at home for the start of the AL Division Series.
Instead, the AL West champions are headed to Toronto facing the possibility of getting swept in the best-of-five matchup after Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish both struggled.
“We’ve got a good team. We all believe in each other,” All-Star center fielder Ian Desmond said. “Just keep on fighting.”
Darvish allowed a career-worst four homers, three in the same inning , and Texas lost 5-3 on a dreary, misty Friday afternoon in Texas.
That came a day after All-Star lefty Hamels, the MVP of the World Series and NLCS for Philadelphia in 2008, allowed seven runs in 3 1-3 innings in his worst-ever postseason start in a series-opening 10-1 romp by the wild-card Blue Jays.
But the Rangers also remember what happened last October, when Toronto lost the first two games of the ALDS at home before rallying to win the series.
“Why can’t we do it this year, too? You never know until the last out,” shortstop Elvis Andrus said. “We still believe that we can win this series.”
Game 3 is Sunday night.
“We’re up against it. We’ve got to win three in a row,” second-year Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “We’ve got to start with one.”
Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Edwin Encarnacion, who ended the AL wild-card game with a three-run homer in the 11th inning, hit solo homers in a five-batter span in the fifth to go up 5-0. Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run drive in the second put 20-game winner J.A. Happ and the Blue Jays ahead to stay.
“I was struggling with the strike zone and then was getting behind in the count and they were looking for the fastballs,” Darvish said through his interpreter. “And when I left it on the plate, they got it.”
It was only Darvish’s second postseason appearance in his five seasons with the Rangers after coming from Japan. The right-hander lost the 2012 AL wild-card game to Baltimore, and missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery.
Darvish had as many strikeouts (four) in his five innings as homers allowed, becoming the first pitcher in the postseason to allow four homers in a game since Minnesota’s Rick Reed against Oakland in Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS. He stared upward in disbelief after the balls landed in the seats.
Texas outhit the Blue Jays 13-6 and had multiple runners on base against Happ in each of the first four innings. The only time they scored off the lefty was on Ian Desmond’s RBI single in the fourth.
The Rangers have lost five straight ALDS games to Toronto since winning the first two games in Toronto last October. Texas dropped to 1-11 in ALDS games in its home ballpark.
Texas scored twice in the eighth, including Carlos Gomez’s single that struck Francisco Liriano near the back of the head. The pitcher walked off the mound, and an ambulance was waiting after the game. But he was cleared to fly home with the Blue Jays that evening after being checked out at a hospital.
The ball off Gomez’s bat was measured at 102 mph, and Liriano turned away just in time to avoid being hit in the face.
“It’s tough to see that, but it’s part of the game,” Gomez said.
Roberto Osuna, the 21-year-old closer, then came on to get the final five outs, the first when Desmond greeted him with an RBI grounder. Adrian Beltre had a leadoff double in the ninth, but got stranded there.
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Talk about a 1-2-3 punch for the Toronto Blue Jays in these playoffs.
The wild-card Blue Jays have rediscovered their power stroke in October, and are going home with a chance to sweep the Texas Rangers in the AL Division Series after a 5-3 win Friday.
Edwin Encarnacion capped a three-homer burst in the fifth inning off Yu Darvish, and Toronto won on a dreary, misty afternoon for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five matchup.
One important reminder, though: Last fall, Toronto lost the first two games of the ALDS at home against Texas, then rallied to win the series.
“I learned something last year … you got to win three games,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “They’ve got a great team over there. You don’t lead the American League, powerhouse league, you don’t luck into that.”
Wearing spikes that had “No Panic” printed on them, closer Roberto Osuna got a five-out save that sent the Blue Jays home looking to clinch the series in Game 3 Sunday night.
Osuna entered after reliever Francisco Liriano was hit near the back of the head by Carlos Gomez’s line drive. Liriano was taken by ambulance after the game to a hospital, where he was checked out and then cleared to fly home with the team that evening. It was Osuna’s first appearance since he left the mound in the AL wild-card win Tuesday night with a shoulder injury that left his status in doubt.
Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Encarnacion, who ended the wild-card game with a three-run homer in the 11th inning, hit solo homers in a five-batter span in the fifth. Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run drive in the second put 20-game winner J.A. Happ and the Blue Jays ahead to stay.
“Getting behind in the count, and they were looking for fastballs,” Darvish said through his interpreter. “When I left it on the plate, they got it.”
Texas scored twice in the eighth, including Gomez’s single that struck Liriano. The pitcher walked off the mound.
A day after Cleveland homered three times in an inning against Boston and won its ALDS opener, the Blue Jays matched the feat against the team that won an AL-high 95 games this year. The home runs boosted the Blue Jays in a game in which they got outhit 13-6.
While Toronto finished the regular season fourth in the majors with 221 homers, only eight came in the last 11 games. They already have eight in three postseason games.
“Home runs are always a good thing,” Gibbons said.
Darvish had as many strikeouts (four) in his five innings as homers allowed, becoming the first pitcher in the postseason to allow four homers in a game since Minnesota’s Rick Reed against Oakland in Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS.
Texas has lost five straight ALDS games to the Blue Jays since winning the first two games in Toronto last October. The Rangers dropped to 1-11 in ALDS games in their home ballpark, including Cole Hamels’ worst postseason outing in the 10-1 series-opening loss Thursday.
“We’ve come back from a lot this year. … We all believe in each other,” said Texas outfielder Ian Desmond, who drove in two runs but was also thrown out trying to score on a grounder.
Happ allowed nine hits but only run before leaving one batter into the sixth.
“You go into a game knowing that at some point they’re going to get their hits,” Happ said. “But yeah, it was a battle. It seemed like a long five innings.”
Osuna, who afterward said he felt no pain, came in a little earlier than planned, a move that followed Liriano getting struck.
The ball off Gomez’s bat was measured at 102 mph, and Liriano turned away just in time to avoid being hit in the face. Gomez winced as the ball caromed into right-center field for a single to make it 5-2.
Desmond drove in a run with a grounder before Osuna struck out Carlos Beltran to end the eighth.
Adrian Beltre was stranded at second after a leadoff double in the ninth.
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CHICAGO (AP) — Jon Lester gave the Chicago Cubs a chance, Javier Baez supplied the power and Aroldis Chapman finished the job.
A positive playoff opener for a city draped in “W” flags and hoping for a historic championship.
Lester outpitched Johnny Cueto with eight sparkling innings, Baez homered in the eighth and Chicago beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in a tense Game 1 of their NL Division Series on Friday night.
Lester retired his last 13 batters in a dominant performance, but the game was scoreless when Baez sent a towering drive into a stiff wind. With a raucous crowd of 42,148 and every player anxiously tracking the flight of the ball, left fielder Angel Pagan ran out of room as it landed in the basket that tops the ivy-covered walls at Wrigley Field.
Baez thought it was surely gone as soon as the ball left the bat.
“I forgot about the wind,” he said. “The wind’s blowing straight in, and I hit it really good. Good thing it just barely went.”
Chicago’s relievers in the bullpen in foul territory down the left-field line broke into cheers as Baez rounded the bases with the delirious crowd in a frenzy. Baez then came out of the dugout for a curtain call.
“Just waiting for him to make a mistake and he finally did,” Baez said.
Chapman allowed Buster Posey’s two-out double off the ivy in the ninth before Hunter Pence bounced to second for the final out, wrapping a bow on Chicago’s first meaningful game in weeks.
Lester’s $155 million, six-year deal in December 2014 was a key moment in the Cubs’ turnaround from also-ran to contender. They clinched the NL Central title on Sept. 15 and led the majors with 103 wins this year, but have their sights set on the franchise’s first World Series crown since 1908.
“I kind of figured as we got going it would come down to one mistake and luckily we didn’t make one and they did,” Lester said. “And I think that’s just kind of the beginning of the series.”
Game 2 is Saturday night.
Cueto was outstanding, following up Madison Bumgarner’s four-hitter in San Francisco’s wild-card win at New York with his own gem. The right-hander, deftly varying his delivery to keep the Cubs off balance, struck out 10 and allowed three hits in his second straight complete game in the postseason.
“We both were pitching a great ballgame and obviously we knew — we were aware that one run was going to decide the game,” Cueto said through a translator.
Baez’s homer stopped San Francisco’s postseason scoreless streak at 23 innings dating to the World Series in 2014. The Giants also won it all in 2010 and 2012, leading to talk of even-year magic for manager Bruce Bochy’s club, but it was the Cubs with the good fortune in the series opener, a strange turn of events for the usually snake-bitten franchise.
The Giants had at least one hit in each of the first four innings, including leadoff singles in the first three, but Lester held them off each time. The left-hander got some help from his usual catcher, with David Ross throwing out Gorkys Hernandez trying to steal second in the first and picking off wild-card hero Conor Gillaspie at first in the third.
San Francisco had runners on second and third after left fielder Ben Zobrist misplayed Pagan’s sinking liner into a fourth-inning double, but Brandon Crawford bounced out to end the inning.
“We had a couple chances there. We just couldn’t get the key hit,” Bochy said.
Cueto retired his first 10 batters and had the Cubs shaking their heads all night long. He also got some timely help from his defense.
Hernandez got revenge on Ross with an outstanding, sliding catch on the warning track in left-center in the third. Kelby Tomlinson, starting at second in place of Joe Panik with the lefty Lester on the mound, robbed Zobrist of a two-out RBI single in the fourth, then took a hit away from Anthony Rizzo with another diving stop in the seventh.