Clayton Kershaw Shines, Dodgers Win By A Lot

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

C’mon, is anybody surprised that the Los Angeles Dodgers weren’t stifled by the wicked combination of Collin McHugh and Jeff Manship? I bet even Dodgers’ fans who have never heard of those two pitchers would say something like this:

“Collin McHugh and Jeff Manship? Yep, those are spot starting, fringe Major League guys for sure. I can just tell by their names. This is going to be entertaining.”

Both of these teams are at the point in the season where they are playing for little more than individual accolades, and not unlike the standings, those efforts ended up squarely in the Dodgers’ favor.

For the Colorado Rockies it is about Todd Helton‘s final games and Michael Cuddyer‘s quest for the NL batting title. Like the 11-0 final score of Friday night’s game, there wasn’t much going for either of those guys on this night. Neither got a hit, and Helton was mercifully removed once things were out of hand. Helton’s stellar swings of late have been pure joy, but they were still no match for Clayton Kershaw.

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Why don’t you just give him the trophy? Kershaw added six shutout innings and eight strikeouts to his season resume, finishing with a 1.83 ERA on the year. It’s funny, because for all of the Dodgers hype and silly story lines (i.e. – jumping in that pool), it will be Kershaw who is front and center once the playoffs arrive. A true, almost impossible to beat ace is so rare and can be such a leg up for a team, and right now the Dodgers have that. And the pitchers who follow can throw it OK too, as the Rockies will see on Saturday and Sunday.

Oh, and Juan Uribe notched three hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Of course Juan Uribe did. He is now batting .277/.329/.437 on the season. If you want something to be upset about, I’d go with that.