Plot twist turns up heat on Kershaw

By Martin Rogers

The insane moments that flipped Game 4 of the World Series formed one of those happenings in sports you’ll never forget. Saturday night will forever be your "remember when," that reminder to not change the channel or head for the exit as a game appears headed toward an inevitable conclusion.

You’ll remember when Brett Phillips knocked one into right, when Chris Taylor’s glove stayed high, when Randy Arozarena tumbled around third, when Will Smith moved to tag too early, when Dave Roberts lost his mind and when Phillips, who started it all, took off sprinting for the outfield, arms outstretched and beaming from ear to ear, his delighted teammates chasing him down.

You can’t stop thinking about it now, and you’ll remember it for years beyond these strange and tumultuous times.

For Clayton Kershaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ implosion took place before his very eyes, and he has just a few hours in which to try to forget it. 

(Ed. note: Those who watch Sunday night's showdown on the all new FOX Sports App and FOXSports.com will have an opportunity to view our innovative bonus cam experience, allowing you to view the traditional broadcast alongside dugout cams, the "All Nine" angle, our Watch Party and more, simultaneously. You can see a demonstration for yourself in this video below.)

"It’s hard to not think about the endgame, and what that might be like," Kershaw said of his upcoming start against the Tampa Bay Rays in Sunday’s Game 5, the series now unthinkably tied at 2-2 and truly up for grabs. "For me at least, it’s just a constant focus on the next day, the next game, the next pitch. You just have to remind yourself."

Wise words indeed, but they were uttered just before Saturday night’s instant classic, complete with the ultimate final twist to a game that never lacked for entertainment. Deep into the bottom of the ninth, Kershaw's comments still rang true, as he looked on calmly, one pitch away from heading into Game 5 with a chance to seal the Dodgers’ first championship since 1988 and to wash away all those pained recent memories.

There is no such thing as pressure-free in a World Series, but Kershaw looked set to be teed up for a situation as close to ideal as you can get. Seconds later, he wore a stunned expression as he slowly exited the Dodgers dugout. He wasn’t the only one.

And now? Well, now he must face the ghosts of failures past.

"As the player who most personified the team’s succession of postseason failures, Kershaw deserved to start the potential clincher," wrote Dylan Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times. "His assignment on Sunday has become less glamorous but considerably more important, as Kershaw will be looking to regain control of the series for the Dodgers."

First, the Dodgers will need to regain control of themselves after that extraordinary litany of errors, and for that they will surely look to their superstar pitcher as a kind of emotional compass.

No one doubts Kershaw’s ability or his character, but let’s just say that World Series Game 5s and certain postseason situations have become an inadvertent and unwelcome chunk of his narrative.

Against the Houston Astros in 2017, again with the series split after four games, he gave up leads of four runs and three runs as the eventual (and later tainted) champions slugged their way to a wild 13-12 victory.

A year later, Kershaw was on the mound with L.A. facing elimination against the Boston Red Sox and gave up a two-run homer in the first, two more later on, and could not prevent the team’s dreams from ending on their own field.

At times during the Dodgers’ recent efforts to get over the hump, Kershaw has been asked to take on unfamiliar roles, either pitching on short rest or occasionally out of the bullpen. Several of his struggles have also come when being seen for a second time during a series, like last year’s disappointment against the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, when he gave up two home runs.

In his regular-season career, Kershaw boasts a tremendous 2.43 ERA. In the postseason, that climbs to 4.22, and a record of 12-12. 

Yet remember, all this chatter is for us, the observers. Bear in mind that he is still Clayton-freakin’-Kershaw, one of the nastiest hurlers ever to send down a pitch in anger, a Hall of Famer waiting to happen, and a guy who has with a point to prove as he takes to the mound less than 30 miles from where he grew up in the Dallas suburbs.

If this is the time the doubters are silenced, when those near misses are overridden and where he finally cements the empty spot on his résumé, there might be no better place for him to do it than Globe Life Field. But it just got that much harder.

"We have got Clayton going tomorrow," Roberts said, deep into Saturday night as he attempted verbal damage control. "Our focus has to turn to that." 

Yet nerves are fraught in Los Angeles right now. And now, all because of 13 madcap seconds that turned everything on its head, it is Kershaw – plus all his postseason demons – that are back firmly in the spotlight.

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