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Clayton Kershaw may be the best pitcher on the planet, but his regular season accolades don't seem to be translating into postseason success. The latest example (for those of you whose memories don't extend to this past Friday) occurred roughly an hour ago when the Dodgers ace gave up a three-run jack to St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams.
That one swing of the bat was the sole provider of St. Louis's offense, but it was all they needed to hold off Los Angeles for a 3-2 victory that sealed Game Four of the NLDS and clinched the series in front of the hometown fans. The win also gave the Cardinals their fourth consecutive berth in the NLCS, while sending the team with the league's highest payroll home packing for the offseason.
As for Kershaw (who was pitching on short rest, for the record), he'll now have to endure national talking heads publicly pondering whether he's the mound equivalent of Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez or LeBron James, who were all relentlessly mocked for not winning titles until they--you know--did.
Now they're just mocked for not winning more.
