In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
Flipping the Narrative
Clayton Kershaw has been the best pitcher on the planet for most of the last decade and there is no debate. However, the one area of weakness has been his performances in October. Because of this fact, Kershaw was labeled a postseason choker. Coming into this year, Kershaw had a postseason ERA of well above four and he has allowed some big hits.
This year, however, Kershaw has been outstanding. In 2017 playoffs Kershaw has an ERA of exactly three and that doesn’t really do his postseason justice. Remove his unlucky first start against the Diamondbacks and his ERA is 1.87. I think it is safe to say that Clayton Kershaw can indeed pitch in October.
I wanted to focus purely on Clayton Kershaw this morning because I find the “choker” narrative to be one of the most absurd in pro sports. Rarely do athletes choke in big moments, usually they are simply outperformed by an opponent. That might ruin a really fun narrative but I think Clayton Kershaw is doing that himself with a dominant October.
What October is all about
For most of this year, the Dodgers and Astros had the two best records in baseball. It took a historic win streak for the Cleveland Indians to overtake the Astros for the best record in the AL. Despite that, the argument can be made that this World Series features the two best teams in baseball. That doesn’t always mean you will get the best games but last night certainly lived up to the hype.
Clayton Kershaw wasn’t the only ace with a great outing as Dallas Keuchel put together a very impressive outing. Keuchel went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with three strikeouts. His was matching Kershaw until late in the game when Justin Turner came to the plate. The result was a new iconic World Series moment:
Justin Turner’s home run didn’t have the drama of a Kirk Gibson or the importance of Bill Mazeroski’s but it was a go-ahead home run in game one of the World Series and that is something every player dreams of.
Justin Turner has had a tremendous October and he is putting his name up there with other Dodger legends. So far this year, Turner is hitting .371/.476/1.190 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. There is no debate that he has been the Dodgers best player this October and a large reason why this team is three wins from glory.
Baseball talk on the Web
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Morrow ‘unsung hero’ of LA’s dominant ‘pen
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