Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw had his worst baseball fears come to life on Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Kershaw could only get one out in Game 1 of the NLDS against the D-Backs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. Kershaw allowed a whopping six runs to score in the first inning, headlined by a 3-run home run from Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno.
https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1710830565744632172
Kershaw became the first pitcher in MLB postseason history to allow five hits and five runs before recording a single out.
The Dodgers veteran’s playoff meltdown led to a field day from fans posting on X. Kershaw was clowned for underperforming in the postseason once again, a familiar sight in his otherwise Hall of Fame-worthy career.
https://twitter.com/LakeShowYo/status/1710831573552304576
https://twitter.com/dodgersbetter/status/1710833101491064905
https://twitter.com/knicks_tape99/status/1710830656496763204
https://twitter.com/highlightheaven/status/1710831883280392238
Some fans did come to Kershaw’s defense. They pointed out that Kershaw is battling a shoulder injury.
https://twitter.com/DMAC_LA/status/1710838913739436253
https://twitter.com/UrinatingTree/status/1710829395420594340
The quick exit marked the first time Kershaw was unable to get past the first inning of a start in his career, postseason or otherwise.
Kershaw came into the contest with a career playoff ERA of 4.22 in 191 innings pitched. After giving up six runs with just one out on Saturday, his postseason ERA shot up all the way to 4.49 — nearly double his career regular season ERA of 2.48.
Prior to the Game 1 start, Kershaw spoke about one downside of pitching on Saturdays. The minor weekend inconvenience Kershaw anticipated turned into a Saturday to forget for the Dodgers pitcher.
