Kershaw finally reaches the biggest stage

Phil Gurnee ♦ October 24, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

It took Clayton Kershaw seventeen postseason starts to finally make it to the World Series and as he has done for most of his Dodger career, he will take the ball in game one.

Clayton has the advantage tonight given the game is at home, he’s facing a team who has rarely seen his stuff, and he’s Clayton Kershaw.  Clayton has only pitched against the Astros once time since 2012 and he dominated them in a late August game in 2015. Just two years later the only starters for both teams from that game that will play today were Turner, Puig, and Hernandez for the Dodgers and Altuve, Correa, Gattis, and Gonzalez.

Baseball historians have said this will be the hottest day in World Series history as the temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees at game time in Los Angeles. Living in the Valley, last night was one of the hottest nights of the year so I expect the forecast to hold true. It will also be a Winnie the Pooh type of blustery day with the hot wind making an appearance all day.

Mike Petriello says the ball could be jumping in the early going.

For once, when you hear “ball is flying tonight,” the numbers will back it up. G1 in LA at 100° should be fun.

MORE https://t.co/vmG0lXaVOf pic.twitter.com/8tkGBEXlBc

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) October 23, 2017

The heat will be in the triple digits, I’m hoping for double digits from Clayton.

Date         Series Gm# Opp   Rslt  IP H ER BB SO GSc
2013-10-03     NLDS   1 ATL  W 6-1 7.0 3  1  3 12  76
2015-10-09     NLDS   1 NYM  L 1-3 6.2 4  3  4 11  61
2014-10-03     NLDS   1 STL L 9-10 6.2 8  8  0 10  36
2017-10-06     NLDS   1 ARI  W 9-5 6.1 5  4  3  7  51
2016-10-07     NLDS   1 WSN  W 4-3 5.0 8  3  1  7  45
2017-10-14     NLCS   1 CHC  W 5-2 5.0 4  2  1  4  54
2009-10-15     NLCS   1 PHI  L 6-8 4.2 4  5  5  3  34

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/24/2017.