LOS ANGELES (AP) — With Sandy Koufax sitting in the front row
http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-randy-jones-jersey , Clayton Kershaw pitched the best postseason game of his career, motivated partly
by being passed over as the Dodgers‘ Game 1 starter.He responded with a
postseason career-high eight innings of two-hit ball in his team’s second
straight playoff shutout, and Manny Machado slugged a two-run homer as Los
Angeles beat the Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in their NL
Division Series.“I think that it was one of the best outings that I’ve seen,”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He was in complete control.”The Dodgers used
a nearly identical formula to win 6-0 in Game 1 behind Hyun-Jin Ryu, who allowed
only four two-out singles over seven innings, and home runs by Joc Pederson, Max
Muncy and Enrique Hernandez.Kershaw was even better. The left-hander struck out
three and walked none in the longest scoreless playoff outing for a Dodgers
pitcher since Jose Lima tossed a complete-game shutout in Game 3 of the 2004
NLDS against St. Louis.“Maybe a tick, for sure,” Kershaw said of earning some
extra satisfaction. “But Ryu threw so unbelievable last night that you just want
to match him. That’s all I was trying to do.”Ryu and Kershaw became the second
pair of Dodgers starters to have consecutive postseason games with seven-plus
scoreless innings. Jerry Reuss and Burt Hooton did it in 1981, against Houston
and Montreal.The Dodgers joined the 1921 New York Yankees as the only teams to
open a postseason series with back-to-back shutouts, according to STATS. They
recorded their first consecutive shutouts since Games 2 and 3 of the 2016 NL
Championship Series against the Cubs.Los Angeles can sweep the best-of-five
series in Game 3 on Sunday in Atlanta
Johnny Manziel Jersey , where the Baby Braves will be looking to score for the first time this postseason.“I see the frustration those guys have against
this guy,” Braves starter Anibal Sanchez said of his teammates facing
Kershaw.Kershaw got bypassed as the Game 1 starter in favor of Ryu after the
three-time Cy Young Award winner had started eight of the Dodgers’ past 10
postseason openers. Roberts said it was done to give both Ryu and Kershaw five
days of rest between starts.“This guy is a potential Hall of Fame player,”
Roberts said. “So to have the noise around him, but when it comes to his day to
start and to help his club win a game, I had no concern that anything was going
to affect him.”One more victory would put Los Angeles in the NLCS for the third
straight year. The Dodgers beat the Cubs last season and lost to them in
2016.Kershaw ran out to the mound as though he was going to pitch the ninth,
bringing cheers from the sellout crowd of 54,452. But when Roberts went out to
pull his ace after 85 pitches, fans booed.Roberts deked to force the hand of
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker, who ended up wasting Tyler Flowers before sending
up Lucas Duda as the pinch-hitter.“I felt that that was a way that you can use
their two best hitters off the bench and get our guy in there,” Roberts
said.Kershaw was fine with it, too.“The plan all along was if they burned their
bench
http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-wil-myers-jersey , which is what we wanted to do and Flowers came out, that Kenley had the ninth,”
he said. Kenley Jansen gave up a one-out single to Ronald Acuna Jr. before
earning the save. Machado hit a two-run shot on a 3-0 pitch from Sanchez with
two outs in the first. Joc Pederson doubled leading off. Yasmani Grandal homered
on an 0-2 pitch from Sanchez leading off the fifth to make it 3-0. Acuna doubled
to deep left-center on Kershaw’s first pitch. He became the first Braves runner
to reach third base in the series when Johan Camargo grounded out to
Kershaw.After Acuna’s double, Kershaw retired 14 consecutive batters until Ender
Inciarte reached on an infield single with two outs in the fifth. Ex-Dodger
Charlie Culberson grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop, with Inciarte
out at second.“He has a feel for everything and when his curveball’s on, it’s
going to be a good night for him,” Culberson said. “He’s one of the best, and he
showed it.”Kershaw was sharp on defense, too.He chased around to grab a ball hit
by Camargo and fired to first in time for the initial out of the fourth.One
inning later, Kershaw did a 180-degree spin after a comebacker by Ozzie Albies
struck him in the hamstring, slipped on the grass and made the throw to first
for the second out of the fifth. A trainer briefly came out to check on
Kershaw
Rickey Henderson Jersey , who threw one warmup pitch to prove he was fine.“It just got me in a good spot, kind of in the belly of the leg right
there,” Kershaw said, “so maybe a little sore tomorrow, but I should be
good.”The Dodgers backed Kershaw with a double play to end the sixth after he
plunked pinch-hitter Lane Adams leading off and Acuna Jr. grounded into a
fielder’s choice.“A lot of great plays all the way around,” Kershaw said.The
Braves’ offense was anemic again.Other than Acuna’s double and his single in the
ninth, they were limited to a two-out single by Inciarte in the fifth. Freddie
Freeman was hitless with a strikeout in four at-bats. Nick Markakis went 0 for 3
with a strikeout, and Albies was 0 for 3.“You can’t blame any one person,”
Snitker said. “I mean, it’s just our whole lineup is having a hard time.”KERSH’S
KIDSKershaw juggled daughter Cali and son Charley on his lap in the postgame
interview room. With a pacifier in his mouth, Charley bopped the microphone with
his hand a couple of times and Cali smiled at the crowd of reporters and
cameras.“Y’all are supposed to be in bed
http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-ozzie-smith-jersey ,” Kershaw said, clearly pleased to have his hands full.UP NEXTWith their season on
the line, the NL East champion Braves are likely to start RHP Kevin Gausman on
Sunday. He came over from Baltimore before the July 31 trade deadline in a
six-player deal and was 5-3 with a 2.87 ERA in 10 starts for Atlanta.The Dodgers
are going with rookie RHP Walker Buehler, who was 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA this
season. Buehler last pitched on Monday, allowing one hit in 6 2/3 innings and
striking out three in the NL West tiebreaker victory over the Rockies. Atlanta
Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb missed a no-hitter by one out during Sunday's
contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but his performance wasn't the only
story.According to Steve Gardner of USA Today, a number of tweets including
racist and homophobic slurs on Newcomb's Twitter page were dug up Sunday.
Gardner noted the tweets from the 25-year-old Newcomb were from when he was an
18-year-old high school student.Twitter user NatsSquid shared some of them
(warning: NSFW content), although Gardner noted some others containing
homophobic slurs were deleted.squid NatsSquidSean Newcomb is cancelled
0KGrXXLm6ZGardner clarified the tweet including a racial slur was a lyric from a
song by Drake, Lil' Wayne and Tyga."This is something that obviously can't be
happening," Newcomb said, per Kelsey Wingert of Fox Sports South. "I feel bad
about it. I don't mean to offend anybody. I definitely regret it."Newcomb wasted
no time addressing the old tweets and explained his decision to discuss them in
the immediate aftermath of Sunday's contest."I felt that it would be good to
address it right away and just let people know that I meant nothing by
it
Cory Spangenberg Jersey ," he said, per Wingert. "I didn't mean to offend anybody and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. I'll be
smarter."Wingert added more from Newcomb:Kelsey Wingert KelsWingertSean Newcomb
said he saw the tweets resurfaced when he was on his phone after today?? game
and he wanted to get ahead of it and apologize, so he asked the #Braves if he
could meet with media now to issue statement.Kelsey Wingert KelsWingertWhen
asked if he was worried about how stuff like this would play in the clubhouse,
?? think that people who know me know that?? not the kind of person I am.??-
#Braves Sean Newcomb FOXSportsBravesThe Braves also released a statement on the
situation:Atlanta Braves BravesStatement from the Atlanta Braves regarding Sean
Newcomb: T9kP9TF5d1This comes after Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Josh Hader
made a number of headlines when old tweets including racist and homophobic
language were discovered during the All-Star Game.While Milwaukee fans gave
Hader a standing ovation during his next appearance at home, San Francisco
Giants fans at ATT Park booed him during his first road appearance after the
tweets resurfaced.Hader was not suspended, although he was ordered to go through
sensitivity training.
