HEADLINE

Dodgers hope bats, Kershaw can even NLCS

Field Level Media

October 15, 2020 at 4:38 am.

The Los Angeles Dodgers hope to have their bats and left-hander Clayton Kershaw at peak performance Thursday night when they seek a series-tying win against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Arlington, Texas.

The top-seeded Dodgers got back in the best-of-seven set on Wednesday with a record-setting, 11-run first inning in a 15-3 triumph that trimmed the second-seeded Braves’ series lead to 2-1.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced after the win that his team would start Kershaw in Game 4 after the ace lefty was scratched from a scheduled outing two nights earlier because of back spasms.

“It’s not ideal how we started the series, but we feel good about ourselves,” Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger said after the win. “We got Kershaw on the mound (in Game 4), so we’re feeling good. We got to continue to do what we did (in Game 3).”

The Braves are expected to counter with rookie right-hander Bryse Wilson, who would be making his postseason debut.

After having been out-hit 18-14, out-homered 5-3 and outscored 13-8 in the first two games, the Dodgers flipped the script in one 32-minute, 14-batter explosion in Game 3. Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Edwin Rios, Max Muncy and Corey Seager all homered in the win, during which Los Angeles out-hit Atlanta 16-7.

Kershaw (2-0, 1.93 ERA in the 2020 postseason) hasn’t needed that kind of support in wins over the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres earlier in the playoffs. He allowed three runs and nine hits in 14 innings while striking out 19 and walking one.

The two successful starts were in contrast to his checkered postseason history: 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA in 32 appearances (25 starts) before this year.

Kershaw last saw the Braves in a 9-4 home win in May 2019, which improved his lifetime record against them to 5-0 with a 1.78 ERA in 11 starts. The ERA is his best against any NL team.

Wilson, 22, made just two starts among his six appearances during the regular season. He shut out the Miami Marlins on three hits over five innings in an 11-1 win on Sept. 22 before giving up one run in three innings against the Boston Red Sox in what turned out to be a 9-1 Atlanta loss on Sept. 27.

He had nine strikeouts and three walks in eight innings during those games.

Wilson has never pitched west of Milwaukee in his three-year, major league career and has never started a game against an NL West team. The only current Dodger he has ever faced is Mookie Betts, who lined out to right field for the Red Sox in a 2018 game.

Braves manager Brian Snitker instructed his team to “turn the page” after Wednesday’s blowout, which ended Atlanta’s run of seven straight wins to open the postseason.

“We’re in better shape than if we’d grinded out a 7-5 loss,” he said. “We’re still in a good spot. Four games left. We’d like the whole team to turn the page and come back (Thursday).”

A possible ray of sunshine for the Braves in the defeat was their two-run uprising in the ninth inning. The Dodgers admitted after their fast start Wednesday that they felt the late rally in their Tuesday loss had a carryover effect.

In fact, the team that scored last in each of the first two games went on to win the next day. Also, the team that scored first has prevailed in all three contests.

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