Every time it looks like he is shaking off his past playoff woes, playoff-Clayton Kershaw reared his head Thursday night against the Atlanta Braves in game four of their NLCS series. After getting off to a good start things started to go south with Marcell Ozuna homering off Kershaw in the fourth, then, everything falling apart in the sixth where Kershaw gave up three more runs before being pulled. Kershaw was then replaced with reliever Brusdar Graterol who gave up three runs while retiring only one batter before being pulled as well. The Braves ended up finishing the game 10-4 and have taken a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS over the Dodgers, who entered the playoffs as the betting favorite to win the World Series.
On the other side, Braves pitcher Bryse Wilson was solid in his start only allowing one hit, which was a home run, while striking out five batters in his six innings, “Wow. That’s about all I can say,” said Brian Snitker. “That kid stepped up…. The kid hadn’t pitched in three weeks. That was just an unbelievable job.” While the rookie pitched a great game he was still reverential to Kershaw, who he sees as a pitching legend, “To be able to do it as someone as well-established as Clayton Kershaw is – it’s a great honor to be able to pitch against him,” Wilson said.
Game five is Friday night at 9 p.m. on Fox Sports One.
