Clayton Kershaw has optimistic way of looking at Game 1 loss

The Los Angeles Dodgers did not get off to the start they were hoping for in the World Series on Tuesday night, and Clayton Kershaw wonders if that may end up being a good thing.

Kershaw, who took the loss after giving up seven hits and five earned runs in four innings of work, reminded reporters after the game that the Dodgers won Game 1 of the World Series last year. They went on to lose the series to the Houston Astros.

Clayton Kershaw: "We won Game 1 last year and lost the series, so maybe we'll try it out this way, see if we can win one."

— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 24, 2018

Of course, no team wants to start out a series with a loss. That said, Game 1 was hardly a must-win for L.A. The 8-4 loss made Game 2 more important, but the Dodgers knew coming into the series that they needed to split the first two games in Boston before returning home for three.

A bigger concern than being in an 0-1 hole is Kershaw’s continued struggles and the seeming inability of the Red Sox to do anything wrong. Boston manager Alex Cora made a somewhat surprising decision to pinch-hit Eduardo Nunez for a red-hot Rafael Devers on Tuesday, and Nunez rewarded him by breaking the game open with a three-run home run. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, on the other hand, made a controversial pitching change that did not work out.

The Red Sox will send David Price to the mound on Wednesday night, and the left-hander is coming off his first career win in the postseason. L.A. is countering with Hyun-Jin Ryu.