SAN FRANCISCO–It took until 2:11 a.m., but the Giants finally found a way to extend the Dodgers’ franchise record 11-game losing streak on Monday evening.
Behind an eight-run offensive outburst, San Francisco forced Dodgers’ right-hander Kenta Maeda out of the game early before ripping through the Los Angeles bullpen en route to an 8-6 win.
Though the Giants have won just five games since August 25, their rivals have won just once. Over the past three weeks, the Dodgers have lost 16 of their last 17 and watched a 21.0 game advantage in the National League West shrink to 9.0 games.
There’s paranoia throughout the City of Angels, as the Dodgers’ collapse is borderline catastrophic. Sure, Los Angeles will still make the playoffs, and should have no problem sewing up the division, but Dave Roberts’ squad is facing immense struggles on a scale no team in baseball –not even the Giants– have stared down this season.
“Not really, I don’t,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said, when asked if he’s thought about Los Angeles’ losing streak. “For a manager, you don’t want to hear that because it’s something that you might be staring at. We all go through it, I’ll add that. Everybody is going to have their moments during the season. Cleveland had their moment and now they’re having their great moment.”
The Dodgers’ losing streak has already reached epic proportions, but if Los Angeles falls again on Tuesday night, the widespread panic will hit a level that’s hard to fathom. It’s not that 12 games is so much worse than 11, though. It’s that the losing streak would continue with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.
The pride and joy of the Dodgers’ franchise, the best pitcher in baseball owns three Cy Young Awards and a career earned run average of 2.35. Kershaw has the potential to be one of the game’s all-time greats, but on Tuesday night, the Dodgers need him to be their all-time stopper.
Every National League West team has a hitter who crushes the Giants. In Arizona it’s Paul Goldschmidt, in Colorado it’s Nolan Arenado, in San Diego it’s Hector Sanchez and in Los Angeles, take your pick, but I’ll go with Corey Seager. But no team has an ace in the hole quite like Kershaw. In 38 career starts against San Francisco, the 29-year old southpaw has a 1.62 ERA. In 20 starts at AT&T Park, that ERA is 1.29. It would be easy to call those video game numbers, but realistically, no one is that good at video games.
On Tuesday, Bochy compared Kershaw to the Atlanta Braves’ trilogy of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, but then decided to pay him a higher compliment.
“You see what happened with Sandy Koufax,” Bochy said. “His tenure wasn’t quite that long but still, how dominating he was. And here’s a guy that’s done the same thing and he’s going to be pitching for a lot longer.”
Kershaw is the best Los Angeles –and the game of baseball– has to offer. But as the Dodgers’ losing streak has proved, he’s not infallible.
Yes, he pitched in the only contest the Dodgers have won in their last 17 games, but in his last outing, he was shelled by the Colorado Rockies. In his second start since returning from the disabled list with a back injury, Kershaw lasted just 3.2 innings, surrendering six hits and four earned runs in a 9-1 loss.
In a season that’s provided the Giants with nothing but misery, perhaps spoiling their bitter rival’s season would offer a bit of comfort. Though Bochy didn’t spell it out that way on Tuesday, a win over Kershaw would hasten a tailspin no one expected, and add a fascinating moment to a rivalry that hasn’t offered much intrigue this season.
“I think they (the Giants) understand the importance of every game of how it can play a critical role in the standings or who gets there and we have a responsibility to go out there and perform to the best of our ability,” Bochy said. “That’s what you do at this time of year if you’re not in it because you owe it to everybody in baseball including probably other teams, I’ll include them. The fans, each other, yeah, I think they get that part. We’ve been on the other side.”