Clayton and Mookie Lead LAD Over Rays in Game 1
The Franchise opened the 2020 World Series and had a game fairly reminiscent of his 2017 Game 1 against the Assterisks. Back in his home town, Clayton Kershaw threw a non-stressful 6.0 innings, and left with an 8-1 lead. He allowed 1 run on 2 hits. He issued a one out walk to Randy Arozarena in the first, and then proceeded to sit down 13 consecutive batters before Kevin Kiermaier
The Franchise opened the 2020 World Series and had a game fairly reminiscent of his 2017 Game 1 against the Assterisks. Back in his home town, Clayton Kershaw threw a non-stressful 6.0 innings, and left with an 8-1 lead. He allowed 1 run on 2 hits. He issued a one out walk to Randy Arozarena in the first, and then proceeded to sit down 13 consecutive batters before Kevin Kiermaier hit a line drive solo HR in the top of the 5th to cut the Dodgers lead in half. Kershaw threw another 3 up and 3 down 6th and his night was over.
This was also a big night for the future HOF LHSP as he delivered 8 strikeouts. What made the strikeouts more meaningful was that when he struck out Willy Adames in the 5th, he notched his 200th postseason K, surpassing John Smoltz, moving into 2nd place on the all-time postseason strikeout list. Next up on the list is Justin Verlander at 205. I actually hope he has to wait until 2021, which would mean the Dodgers will have swept the Rays in 4.
CK had a tough first three hitters, giving up a single to Yandy Diaz and with one out, walking Arozarena putting runners on 1st and 2nd. CK was having issues with his slider in the first. Even Clayton mentioned that he was spiking the slider in the first. The slider started to become sharp in the 2nd, and Kershaw elevated his game. He was dominant. Maybe CK was listening to a lot of his “advisors” as he was pitching to all four quadrants, rather than concentrating on his glove side.
With all of his distractors about his October meltdowns, for the 2020 postseason, Clayton has quietly gone 3-1 with his four starts, a 2.88 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, in 25 innings. He has 31 strikeouts against only 3 walks. Clayton has quieted a lot of his October demons and doubters. This was Clayton’s third WS Game 1 start, and two have been masterful (2017 and 2020). Granted his 2018 Game 1 start was a real stinker, and Game 5 was not much better. With how the Dodgers are stacked for the future, I am confident that CK is going to get a lot more opportunities to build on his postseason numbers.
I could write about the masterpiece Kershaw spun in Game 1 a lot longer, but there were a multitude of other achievements that need to be recognized.
After three uneventful innings, the Dodgers put up crooked numbers in the middle three. It startewith a leadoff walk to Muncy and after one out, Cody Bellinger absolutely crushes the first pitch in this AB for a two-run HR and a 2-0 LAD lead they would never relinquish. I do not know if it was his shoulder, but this was a different swing for Belli. He got a great pitch that Glasnow could not get inside enough, and Belli seemed in total control from the start of the swing throughout. In the FS1 post game show, ARod made a great comment about how balanced Cody looked in Game 1. He seemed to be in control of his swing, and I hope that this is a prelude to the next three 2020 WS LAD wins.
It was important for the Dodgers to get out in front and stay there. The Rays have won their last 63 games when leading after the 7th. Their bullpen is special, especially late in the game.
Remarkably, the Dodgers scored 4 runs in the 5th without a HR. They turned a pair of walks to Mookie and Seager, three stolen bases (2 by Mookie and 1 by Seager), and a fielders choice groundball that Mookie beat the throw to the plate and a 3-1 lead. Three singles by Fresh Prince, CT3, and Kike’ gives the Dodgers 3 more runs. The big boppers turn 2 walks, 3 stolen bases, and 3 singles into 4 runs.
Tyler Glasnow’s night was done after Will Smith’s single. LHRP, Ryan Yarbrough, a key Rays reliever, relieved Glasnow and offered up the CT3 and Kike’ single to finish up the pitching line for Glasnow. Glasnow went 4.1 IP, allowed 6 runs on 3 hits and 6 walks. He also K’d 8 Dodgers. He did all of this and threw 112 pitches, several reaching 100 MPH, in those 4.1 IP. I will not speculate as to whether Glasnow will be available in future games, or if he is, how effective he will be.
Yarbrough was done after the 5th, throwing 19 pitches. Another LHRP, Josh Fleming, replaced Yarbrough. The first pitch Fleming threw Mookie put it into the RF stands for his 1st LAD postseason HR. Back to back doubles by JT and Max Muncy scored another run. It was this second run that apparently ended the night for Kershaw. Even though Kershaw pitched an effortless 78 pitches, Doc felt comfortable with an 8-1 lead that he decided to end his outing. Unfortunately, as Doc is inclined to do, he did not have his reliever warming up, and Floro was probably not ready when he was asked to enter. He got Austin Meadows on a strikeout. He then surrendered a single to Margot, and a booming double to Joey Wendle. Even though it was well hit, and Belli ran a mile, he was not able to make the catch as he was closing in on the fence rather quickly and seemed to back off a bit (shoulder, maybe?) After the game, it seemed like Belli offered up that he should have caught the ball, but he was concerned where the fence was. Doc did not get his next reliever up in time again…Victor Gonzalez. Victor did not appear to be sufficiently warm and his slider was flat. He gave up two sharp singles that scored both runs he inherited. The next batter he faced, Mike Zunino, hit a 105 MPH blur on a line right back at him, that VGon was able to double up Mike Brosseau at 2B to get out of the inning.
Pedro Baez entered the 8th and got a quick 3 up and 3 down. He threw only one fastball and several sliders and changeups. He is also working a lot faster than he used to do. Joe Kelly was tasked to finish up. Austin Meadows, who is having a poor 2020 and even poorer postseason, slugged a drive to CF that Belli was able to catch up to and make another one of his patented Belli catches. Kelly retired the next two batters he faced, and Game 1 was in the books. Kelly went back to his 96-97 MPH fastball, and threw only two knuckle curves.
Tyler Glasnow was wild, and Clayton Kershaw was efficient and effortless. The first two relievers for both sides had early issues, with the Rays’ Josh Fleming figuring it out after four batters. He seemed to run out of gas in the 8th, and the Rays’ 3rd reliever, John Curtiss came in to strike out Will Smith to finish up an 8th inning threat. The keys to the game were the Dodgers starting pitching, Dodger bats, Dodgers speed on the bases, and Dodgers defense. Belli made another good defensive catch in CF, but in the 6th, JT made a diving stab at a hard ground ball off the bat of Yandy Diaz and was able to throw him out while still on the ground. The relievers for the Dodgers were able to get the job done even if it was with a little anxiety. Mookie, Max Muncy, and CT3 each had 2 hits. Mookie and Belli both went deep. Muncy has come under a little scrutiny during his ho-hum postseason but went 2-4, plus a walk, 2 RBIs, and NO STRIKEOUTS.
Pitcher of the Game – Clayton Kershaw
Player of the Game – Mookie Betts – 2 for 4, 2 runs, 1 HR, 2 stolen bases, and a head first slide to beat a throw to the plate to score run #3.
- Rays – 3 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors
- Dodgers – 8 runs, 10 hits, 0 errors
FINAL SCORE – Dodgers 8 – Rays 3 – Dodgers lead series 1-0
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Discussion (129)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Docs first good move of the night. Gonsolin just has nothing and no confidence. It may not work moving forward in this game but I think he had to get him out. I thought snell was supposed to be wild. Snell came out throwing darts.
Even with a second year guy, and only 20 games pitched, going against a Cy Young winner the money likes us.
And only 4 outs in, we go to the pen.
Any joiners?
Open on www.facebook.comhttps://www.facebook.com/ihatejoebuckfc/Are the Dodgers favorites for tonight’s game? They have their ace with a very good rested bullpen going against our weakest pitching matchup on short rest. Don’t count the Rays out just yet! Tonight we see if this is indeed a great baseball team.
Great start to the series! Let’s hope that Gonsolin recovers his mojo and keeps the score low, while we score some runs early. One down, three to go, boys and girls!
Kershaw great, Belli going yard huge, JT awesome defense, etc. but the play of the game was Roberts calling for the double steal. What a move, brilliant, like baseball should be played and how it used to be played. Manufactured a run without hitting a ball out of the infield, beautiful. Knock the shyte out of the Rays enthusiasm and belief in themselves as well, probably will be a huge factor in their confidence level the rest of the series as well. I have not been a Doc fan but you have to give him huge ups for that move. Let’s see more of good old fashion baseball
McGee, Treinen, Baez and Wood are all free agents from this year’s bullpen. Joc, Kike and JT are also free agents next year. They won’t sign everyone.
Roberts seems to love Treinen but he’s expensive ($10MM this year) and will be looking for more next year. Baez and Wood make $4MM – Wood won’t be back. The Dodgers are paying McGee the MLB minimum but he signed a 3 year $27MM deal with the Rockies.
The with losses this year estimated at $200MM, do they sign any of their free agents?
From Twitter: “This was Clayton Kershaw’s ninth career postseason start of 6+ IP and no more than 1 earned run and 1 walk. Most in MLB history.”
Amazing.
Now let’s go get game 2!
Awesome article by Molly Knight in The Athletic on Clayton:
Open on theathletic.comhttps://theathletic.com/2152393/2020/10/21/dodgers-kershaw-world-series/Molly ends with this:
“But please understand this team is different. In addition to being really, really good, these Dodgers have a sense of resilience and togetherness that’s been lacking in years past. Their competing interests don’t conflict. They don’t rattle in the biggest moments.
This is the year.
Three more wins.”
From Twitter: “This was Clayton Kershaw’s ninth career postseason start of 6+ IP and no more than 1 earned run and 1 walk. Most in MLB history.”
Sad news about the Cubs:
Open on theathletic.comhttps://theathletic.com/2150818/2020/10/21/the-cubs-are-a-decimated-organization-after-laying-off-100-plus-employees/You are going to see this happen to lots of clubs.
Free Agency and the CBA are going to be brutal!
Their owners may be billionaires, but they are leveraged. It ends sometime.
1. Betts RF
2. Seager SS
3. Turner 3B
4. Muncy 1B
5. Smith C
6. Bellinger CF
7. Pollock DH
8. Kike 2B
9. CT3 – LF
Since Baez developed his off speed pitches and uses them in all counts he’s a much better pitcher. He’s lost some velocity on his fastball but it plays up with his other pitches. He can still lose command when stressed but overall a much better reliever. I’d like to see him back as well
While very happy with the way the series has started, I would like to see one thing in particular happen. With left-handed hitter up and the only infielder on the left side of 2b closer to second than third, bunt to 3b. Why not take what the defense is giving you? There is no reason why a major leaguer can’t learn to bunt! That should have been learned before reaching the majors.
Can’t believe I’m saying this but I’d actually like to see AF re-sign Baez this winter. Not as a closer, but then we’ve never considered him closer material.
As a 6th or 7th inning guy I think he’s developed into a far better than average option, and I hope he’s back for the next year or two.
Wonder what causes a pitcher to be doing great one inning or 2or3, and then totally lose it the next inning unable to throw a strike. Is it fatigue, focus, nerves or injury? Or any of the those. Anyone?
Last night is over. I am only concerned with the outcome of tonight’s game. I am of the mind, they win tonight, and Buehler gets them up 3-0 on Friday. That is my focus. Not what the bullpen or Dave did or did not do last night.
Thoughts on last night:
* Great team win. We got contributions from practically everyone at the plate. Only Barnes, Joc and Cory failed to get a hit but Seager had 3 walks.
* Mookie Betts is a treat every day. He is such an opportunist. He’s always ready for the Big Stage. How many homers do you see robbed in a series? He had 2 against the Braves and then the running catch and throw. He creates those opportunities and then makes the spectacular play. He’s just a Big Time Player.
* Super nice to see Muncy have the game he had. Couple ribbie’s, couple knocks.
* CK looked great after the 1st. I agree with Jeff that Floro wasn’t warm. But things change quickly and the prudent decision to lift CK after the 8th run score happened quickly. Not great anticipation by the coaches but somewhat understandable.
* I don’t know what happened to V-Gon. Was he not warm either?
* Nice to see Kelly look good and get in in a low leverage situation. Perfect spot for him.
* Baez is quietly having a terrific post season. With the exception of one clunker against the Braves, he has had 5 impressive outings. In those 5 games he has given up 1 hit, no runs, NO walks and has 7 K’s in his 5 innings. He is way back in Doc’s Circle of Trust.
* We discussed the “contact play” thoroughly yesterday and in my opinion, the play was not on when Mookie scored from 3rd in the 5th inning. Smoltz and Buck saw the same thing, each commenting on Mookie’s “great read” on the batted ball. As I mentioned, there is no read on the “contact play”. I hate the play as it takes the skill of reading the situation out of the hands of a gifted baserunner, like Mookie. His split second decision was perfect and with his speed he beat the throw easily.
* I first say Blake Snell in 2010 as a high school senior in the Washington State Tournament. He pitch in the weirdest high school game I ever saw. Blake was pitching for Shorewood, a Seattle suburb, against my high school alma-mater, coached by a best friend, in T-Mobile Park. Snell was unhittable. Unexpectedly, Snell started the 6th (in a 7inning game) with ball 4, ball 8, ball 12. He just lost it. He loaded the bases in a 0-0 game. The coach lifted him and brought in a hard throwing right hander named Moriarty (like Sherlock’s arch villain). On his first pitch he hit the batter, scoring a run. He pitched out of that inning. My old high school held Shorewood in the top of the 7th and won 1 to 0, on 3 walks and a hit batsman. No contact, no ball in play and they win the game. Crazy.
* Good luck to Gonsolin and the bullpen tonight. I like where we are right now.
Last night was one of the best games I have seen the Dodgers lately, they played a complete baseball, great starting pitching, great defense and an offense with a combination of long ball with small ball, great patience in at-bats, with stolen bases , etc, etc
It was a lot of fun to watch, if the Dodgers played like this it would be a lot more fun than it already is, I think Dodgers Stadium would be full every game, it was a tremendous game, pitching, defense and offense is the name of the game and last night they played a very high standard.
Every relief pitcher, I do not care who he is has a routine they like to have and a number of pitches they like to throw before they are ready. Floro got his first hitter no problem. He then left two pitches in the zone that went for hits. If any of you watched the replay on the double you saw that the ball actually hit the heel of Bellinger’s glove. And Belli himself said that he was wary of the wall out there while he was chasing the ball. Floro did not even throw a warmup until there were 2 outs. And Gonzalez did not throw a pitch until the double was hit. One out single, Roberts is not stressing at all. But when they got the runners at second and third, then he went out to make sure Choi had been announced. That is when he made the switch. Had they left Adames in the game, Floro would have pitched to him. So Cash went to the RH pinch hitter and he got a single. The next hitters single drove in the second run. Then of course the liner right back at Gonzalez and the DP and the inning was over. Gonzalez has been in the majors all of two months. I have no problem at all with the moves Roberts made. If Dave has a fault it is that sometimes he has total faith in the guy he brings in and does not have someone warming up behind him. With the 3 hitter rule, when the second hitter gets on, I would think someone getting up would be automatic. At least that is what I would do. Not firing away, but at least getting their arm warm. Other than that little glitch, the game never was in doubt after they scored 8. Had the Rays cut the lead in half, then it might have been a different story. A win is a win. The Rays need 4. And they only have 6 games to get that done. I think pitching the Cat Man is exactly the right thing to do tonight. As good as the Dodgers are at hitting fastballs, the Rays are better with breaking balls. Gonsolin and May have excellent fastballs. I think another thing that was overlooked was the way they handled the so called hottest hitter on the planet. Arozarena. His offensive output was 1 walk and that was it. Lets enjoy the ride and the games and not nitpick so much.
Keith Law recently:
Frank: Has any team in recent history been more of a favorite to win the World Series than the Dodgers are this year? I know you always talk about anything can happen in a short series but is there anything you have seen so far, regular season or post season to make you believe the Dodgers don’t win the WS?
Keith Law: Both of those things can be true at the same time. They could be the strongest favorites ever, and still only have a slightly better than random chance to win it all.
I do agree they’re the favorites, though. I picked a Rays/Dodgers WS and just as a fan of great teams would be very happy to see that. Also that’s the one AL playoff team left that has never won a WS vs the NL team with the second-longest drought (SD has never won).
Greg: Why don’t pitchers like Dustin May and Brusdar Graterol get more strikeouts with such filthy stuff?
Keith Law: May gets a shit-ton of ground balls. Graterol’s stuff is hard but I don’t think it’s “filthy” the way you might mean.
Bob (LA): Does this series between the Dodgers and Padres make you think Logan White could be a good hire for the Angels or Phillies? Both Teams mention wanting to draft and develop better. Hes partly responsible for building the core of both of these teams.
Keith Law: Great name, although I think the Angels want an experienced GM who’ll try to win right now rather than develop. I’ve heard Bobby Heck with the Phillies and Mets, at least. Ray Montgomery’s and Tony Lacava’s names have come up. Those are all names from the scouting world; I’m assuming that there will also be at least as many candidates from the front office/analytics side, but I haven’t heard them yet.
Joe: What are your thoughts on Will Smith’s bat going forward?
Keith Law: I’m in. He’s going to make several All-Star teams.
John: When do you see Jeter Downs making his MLB debut?
Keith Law: Next year (2021) for sure. Would be shocked if we don’t see him.
Longenhagen:
Brandon J.: Now that the sample is getting a little larger in the bigs, what are your impressions on Tony Gonsolin?
12:18
Eric A Longenhagen: It looks to me like his arm slot is not as extremely north/south as before and that it’s maybe hurt the quality of his splitter but helped his slider, and I’m not sure how, on balance, that impacts his profile. Would still 50 him at this point.
An impressive win. i did think that winning the Braves series the way they did, took some pressure off the team, but i didn’t write it, so won’t try to take any credit for it! But it looked like a different Dodgers team than the one we saw in the last series.
Tonight is obviously a key game, as we would then face Morton, who is their best money pitcher. One game does not a series make, of course, just witness the last one with the Braves, or with the Nationals, or the World Series with Houston, or 1981, or 1965, or 1959, 1956, 1955, all with the Dodgers. It is good to see some of our hitters doing better, making our lineup more like the way it was earlier in the year, with no weaknesses. Kershaw pitched quite well. I would hope not to see Kelly with anything less than a five-run lead. The difference between this team and the recent ones which never won the title, is Mookie Betts, who seemed almost to will the team to the comeback against the Braves, starting with the shoestring catch and throwing out Ozuna.
Turner’s all out effort has and does inspire all the team to want the championship all the more. His play is outstandingly sharp and focused. I credit him in the driver’s seat of this mission of play. Maybe his knees don’t have a lot of shelf life left but this season , not a problem!
Great game last night, it was exactly the right way to start the series. The only thing that would have been more optimal is to have put up a crooked number in the first. Glasnow threw a ton of pitches as did Fleming. Stressing their staff early is a good thing. Glasnow is not their Ace, Snell is. He’s also left handed and is pitching tonight. The Dodgers will counter with Gonsolin, at least that’s what’s posted on their website. I guess they learned their lesson about not deciding until a few hours before game time.
I don’t like Doc. IMO, the only negative byproduct of finally winning this thing is seeing Doc keep his job. But, I must say that management has done the right thing working with him rather than tossing him out and hoping for better results with someone else. I also firmly believe that Doc, or his handlers in the FO are benefitting by playing with the dumbed down rules – 3 batters and DH. Thanks Manfred! Who said two wrongs don’t make a right!!! Now if he can only put an anti shifting rule in place before next season to keep the Sabers from further ruining the game. I digress…
I thought is was the right decision to pull Kershaw. He had a huge lead and a fairly low pitch count. But, if they put him back out there, they would have risked a bad inning and a bruised ego. Ego in tact, save him for game 5 (if necessary) with low exposure and a little more rest.
Side bar – I hope we play a game 5 and Kershaw dominates the World Series winner. A little redemption would be great for the greatest pitcher of his generation (Not counting the post-season).
I wanted Doc to go to Wood, Kelly and McGee. Doc went with Floro, trying to turn around some platoon players no doubt. When Floro got into trouble, he went with Gonso, that was the right move. He is the designated runners on, get me out of the inning guy. ROGMOOTIG! How’s that for an acronym? Feeling a little pressure and wanting to put it away, Baez steps in and Kelly finishes it. I really can’t complain here. All those guys can be used today, only Foro pitched as many as 15 pitches. As far as I’m concerned, they’re warmed for a more stressful situation later in the series.
No complaints here. They’re all pulling on the same rope. Doc is managing not to over manage and the players are doing what they’re supposed to. Mookie’s arrival may have taken a little pressure off everyone, they rely less on platoons and the lineup is not being juggled allowing everyone to be comfortable. What a difference Mookie as made on this team. I absolutely love that guy, but not quite as much as Seager and Smith.
Seems like the Rays are focusing on not letting Seager beat them. 3 walks last night. Nice plan, poor results. Smith was 1 for 5, seems like he does that quite a lot. But, his one hit on the night always seems to be in the right spot to get the team going. I love that guy!
Congrats to the Dodger’s first win in this year’s World Series. Nice breakdown, AC. Thank you. Kershaw was terrific and was glad to see the support he got from the rest of the team, Betts, Cody. CT3, Muncy, Baez and many others. Good luck to the Dodgers tonight. Let us make it a 2-nothing lead.
Personally I have no problem using May against these guys. He’s looked out of sync but his stuff is still there. 5 hits, 10 K’s in 7.2 IP and only 2 earned. 6 walks is the out of sync evidence but even with that I’d throw him out there for a couple of innings.
Bullpen guys should all be able to get ready quickly. Whatever they throw in the pen, then a jog out to the mound and they get 7 more out there. Last I pitched I could get warmed up with with 10 easily and I was 50. I think too much is being made of what happened yesterday. It worked out just fine.