Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.
Clayton Kershaw, having witnessed six straight losses, decided to put the team on his back. He carried the club through nine masterful innings, and even knocked in the only Dodger run to lead the club to a 1-0 victory over the Padres. Overall, he struck out fourteen, allowed three hits and walk nobody in his complete game shutout. Kershaw threw only 101 pitches, and had a perfect game going into the fifth inning. Per
Jack Baer and AJ Cassavell at MLB.com:
"That's as dominant as I've seen him," manager Dave Roberts said. "As
prepared and as much conviction as he has every fifth day, knowing what
we were going through as a team, you talk about great players putting
their team on their backs. That's what he did today. He won't say that,
but that's exactly what happened."
Per
Doug Padilla at ESPN:
"You'd be lying if you said you didn't want to be the guy who ended the
streak, so that definitely feels good," Kershaw said. "We needed a win,
there's no doubt about it, and it wasn't pretty today."
Clayton chats about his evening on the mound with Allana Rizzo
here. As for the team, they couldn't have been more elated at the days outcome. In fact, they held an impromptu dance party in the clubhouse to celebrate; as evidenced by numerous videos shared on social media (
here,
here,
here and
here).
Pic above via
Kike Hernandez on twitter. Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodgers History: In 1928 Giants manager John McGraw made one of the more noteworthy managerial calls in the history of the game. He called for an intentional walk against the Dodgers with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning to drive in a run. The next batter struck out to end the game at 2-1.
