The Los Angeles Dodgers will turn to their pitching ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 2 as they try to rebound from their extra inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship (NLCS) opener Friday night.
The Dodgers could not contain Cardinal right fielder Carlos Beltran, who belted in all three runs in their 3-2 win, including a walkoff single in the 13th inning victory to seal the victory and put St. Louis up a game in their 7-game NLCS series.
Kershaw has been lights-out in the postseason, going 1-0 with a minuscule ERA of 0.69 in two starts - including going on three days rest to eliminate the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.
"I mean, he's obviously been one of the league's top pitchers," said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. "You throw him from the left side, first of all, then you put the velocity and the ability to control the counts and both sides of the strike zone and use his off speed pitches."
The Cardinals have had success against Kershaw, one of the few teams to defeat him twice this year, who went 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA against St. Louis with shortstop Pete Kozma going 4-for-5 with three doubles off him. The Cardinals will give the ball to rookie Michael Wacha, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his first career postseason appearance to force a Game 5 in the NLDS against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Matheny has faith that the young pitcher can handle playoff pressure.
"Why he's been able to be successful so far is that he has trusted himself," said Matheny. "He's trusted the game plan that's put in front of him. He's trusted his catcher. He's trusted his stuff. Then it comes down to taking the distractions and minimizing them."
Wacha will face fellow rookie sensation right fielder Yasiel Puig, who went 0-for-6 Friday night, including two strikeouts, after going 8-for-17 against the Pirates. The Dodgers offense struggled going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position despite out-hitting the Cardinals 9-7 in Game 1 of the NLCS.
"We had a couple opportunities to get a run in and we didn't do it," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "If the rest of the series is like this game, it should be a pretty good one."
TV Schedule
You can catch Game 2 of the Los Angeles Dodgers - St. Louis Cardinals National League Championship Series Saturday afternoon at 4:07 p.m EST on TBS.
Live Stream (video)
Live stream coverage can be seen on MLB.tv (subscription required).
Live Stream (audio)
Live stream coverage can be heard MLB.com Gameday Audio.
Live Score
Live scores could be followed by clicking here.
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