The Dodgers fall to the Pirates as Kershaw loses a rare game but look good heading to the playoffs- September 2015
The surging Pittsburgh Pirates were determined to make it a tough game for Clayton Kershaw after falling to probable 2015 Cy Young winner Zach Greinke the night before. The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on rookie and future star Cory Seager’s HR before the Pirates best player Andrew Mccutchen doubled in two runs with 2 outs in the 4th inning on a beautiful two strike line drive down the right field line.
LA tied it up in the 7th and almost took the lead but pinch hitter Austin Barnes hit into an inning ending double play in the 7th. Gregory Polanco doubled to lead off the 8th to end Kershaw”s night and eventually scored on Aramis Ramirez scorching double off reliever Chris Hatcher. Pittsburgh brought in one of the best relievers in baseball who is very underrated in all star Mark Melancon. He shut them down and broke the team record for saves in a season (47th) to even the series at 1-1 after a strong start by Francisco Liriano.
Kershaw took the loss while LA is cruising to the playoffs as the playoffs are approaching as the only other contender was the SF Giants but they have fallen far off the pace to catch LA. Pittsburgh is in second place behind the Cardinals and most likely will be one of the wild card teams this year vs The Chicago Cubs. The Pirates had a big loss earlier this week losing star rookie Jung Ho Kang for the season but they are a deep resilient team so the playoffs will be very close this year in the national league that start in a few weeks. The Dodgers look like they will be facing the NY Mets unless something very strange happens in the first round of the playoffs this year. With the big lead, they can also arrange the pitching matchups they want but another factor is do they go all out to try to get home field in the first round or rest some of their players since they have a big division lead.
Head Coach Don Mattingly thought Kershaw had a good start vs a tough lineup and team. He said they are not where they are for no reason. More at www.dodgers.com