Boxscore Breakdown #39: Kershaw and the Kids – Dodgers 5, Angels 1

The Angels had the rare chance to get to Clayton Kershaw early Tuesday night. The best pitcher on the planet found himself momentarily rattled in the second inning following a balk call and gave up three straight hard-hit balls, one of which went for an RBI single. Unfortunately for the Halos the next two batters were Jered Weaver and Gregorio Petit, who both promptly grounded out, stranding two runners.

And that was it. From then on he was vintage Kershaw, retiring 18 of the final 19 batters he faced and striking out 11. The Dodgers’ pair of young stars, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, then made Weaver pay for grooving two BP fastballs, and it was all over. A valiant effort by the Angels all things considered, but ultimately a fruitless one.

Same, Yunel. Same

Dodgers 5, Angels 1

Run Expectancy Rundown

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Johnny Giavotella and Shane Robinson, of all people, had the best nights against Kershaw. Giavotella tallied two singles, Robinson one, and somehow neither struck out. Albert Pujols notched the only other hit for the Angels on the night. Everyone else went 0-fer and struck at least once. Poor Kole Calhoun, the only lefty in the lineup, fanned three times.

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The Dodgers’ fleet of kids are playing absurdly well lately. Pederson hit two absolute blasts Tuesday and Seager launched one as well, while Trayce Thompson followed his own two-homer performance with a two-hit night. All three have a multi-homer game in the last week.

Starting Pitcher Scores

Jered Weaver’s uninspiring Game Score belies how well he pitched Tuesday. If not for a dropped fly ball by Mike Trout in the third, Weaver would have allowed just three runs over seven innings on fewer than 80 pitches. Instead, it was four runs over seven innings on 83 pitches. Still pretty good, considering.

In 70 innings pitched this season, Clayton Kershaw has 88 strikeouts and just 4 walks. That is a 22:1 K/BB ratio. 22-to-1! That is literally double the all-time record for K/BB in a season. Even crazier, his K/BB over his last five starts (40 IP) is 58-to-1. FIFTY-EIGHT. He added 11 K and 0 BB to his ledger Wednesday.

Bullpen Battle

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A.J. Achter served up Joc Pederson’s second dinger of the game in the eighth, but ultimately served his purpose as an innings-eater. Or in this case, inning-eater.

Kenley Jansen was Kenley Jansen, making both Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout look silly swinging through cut fastballs. Still shocked the Dodgers haven’t signed him to a billion-year extension. Surely Jansen is more valuable than the comp pick they might get from a qualifying offer.

Game Flow

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It was all over once Joc Pederson went yard in the fourth.

Angel Antagonist

This was a legitimate “you gotta tip your cap” game, so I feel bad giving this to anyone. Mike Trout gets it for making his first fielding error since September 2014, even though the Angels would have lost anyway.