The Milwaukee Brewers take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 5 of the National League Championship Series with Clayton Kershaw and Wade Miley taking the mound.
After following his longest postseason start ever (eight innings) against the Braves in the NLDS, with his shortest postseason start ever (three innings) against the Brewers at Miller Park, Kershaw needs to put his postseason struggles behind him.
He must pull through for manager Dave Roberts and a Dodger team that need him now more than ever to avoid having to win two straight in Milwaukee to move on to the World Series.
Teams without home-field advantage that go down 3-2 in a best-of-seven series have won only 25 percent of the time, while those that go up 3-2 have won the series 59 percent of the time.
For Kershaw, this could be his last start as a Dodger because he can opt out of his contract at the end of the season and has yet to make a decision. If he does opt out, he will become a free agent for the first time in his career.
After yesterday’s 13-inning battle both bullpens are somewhat strapped for today’s game because of their extensive usage in last night’s affair, but that should favor the Brewers who happen to have the deeper bullpen of the two and Milwaukee’s manager Craig Counsell knows how to use it to his advantage.
Counsell is very aggressive in that regard and is not afraid of using as many relievers as he needs, consequently will never be accused of leaving a starter or an opener in the game for too long.
Problem with that approach may be that if this series goes to seven games bullpen fatigue could come back to bite him and cost the Brewers the series.
Expect the pressure to get to Kershaw once again and struggle to make it past the fifth inning. The Dodgers are leaving way too many men on base, so they will lose if Kershaw pitches anywhere close to game 1 in Milwaukee. Problem is that Roberts doesn’t know what he will get from his left-handed ace, who has proven more than once that he’s far from reliable in such clutch situations.
It’s not far-fetched to think that the Brewers can take a three-run lead early and rely on their bullpen to preserve it. Especially with the way the Dodgers are struggling to produce runs.
