Clayton Kershaw’s first relief appearance since 2019 wasn’t pretty, as he allowed four runs in a nightmarish eighth inning in the Phillies’ 8-2 Game 3 victory.
Tanner Scott was absent for what was later described as a personal matter, two other left-handed relievers had already been used, and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t want to use his three best relievers — two of them converted starting pitchers — in a deficit.
And so, in the eighth inning of a two-run game Wednesday night, Clayton Kershaw spilled back onto the field hoping to keep a score manageable by providing his team with three additional outs — and that’s when Game 3 of the National League Division Series unraveled.
J.T. Realmuto led off with a home run, six other batters reached base, and by the end of it, the Philadelphia Phillies had tacked on five additional runs, cruising to the 8-2 victory that saved their season.
Kershaw, the future Hall of Fame left-hander who will retire at season’s end, was making his first postseason relief appearance since the decisive Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS, when he came back out for a second inning and surrendered back-to-back, score-tying home runs to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto. His latest relief outing could have finished in a flourish, after recording the final out in a scoreless top of the seventh. Instead, it ended in despair.
«Just didn’t make enough good pitches», said Kershaw, his team still leading this best-of-five series 2-1. «I was battling command. It’s hard when you’re trying to throw strikes as opposed to getting people out. Just wasn’t a fun thing.»
A sold-out crowd of 53,689 roared when the left-field-bullpen gates swung open, Kershaw’s entrance song blared and No. 22 himself jogged to the mound. He was tasked with taking down the top of the Phillies’ order, immediately after fellow lefties Anthony Banda and Jack Dreyer pitched scoreless innings to maintain the Dodgers’ two-run deficit.
