JC's Dodger Line Drives | July 19: LA's Kershaw Out-Texases Houston

Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw induces a double play out of Astro catcher Humberto Quintero to close out the Houston fifth inning.  Photo Credit - J.C. Ayvazi

Dallas native Clayton Kershaw stepped up to prevent the Los Angeles Dodgers from losing their third consecutive game, keeping the Boys in Blue season-long streak of not losing more than two straight games intact, as he dominated the Houston Astros and led his team to a 5-2 victory.

Kershaw has not lost in his last seven outings, winning five times in that span and recording a 0.63 ERA. On top of that, the Dodgers have won all seven of Kershaw’s previous starts.

The victory also served as a fine present for Dodger manager Joe Torre, who was celebrating his 69th birthday. Torre’s teams have won the last five games played on his birthday, though Joe was quick to mention the fact he had not done so well prior to that. Since most of those games were during his Yankee tenure, Dodger fans can’t get too broken up over that fact.

By The Numbers

Kershaw made the 40th start of his career, dominating to such a degree that after the game a reporter suggested it was Kershaw’s best effort of his career. Clayton wasn’t so sure about that theory, but did admit to being very satisfied with his effort.

In advancing his record to 8-5, Kershaw toiled for seven innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out five. Of his 103 pitches, 66 were strikes. In five of his seven innings, Kershaw faced only three batters, aided by a double play in the fifth which erased his walk to Chris Coste.

Kick Save and a Beauty

In the sixth inning, Kershaw used an unusual defensive maneuver to retire his opposing number, Houston starter Mike Hampton.

After Hampton hit a comebacker to the mound, an off balance Kershaw stuck out his left foot to deflect the ball. As the ball bounced back in front of him, Clayton pounced on it and threw to first to retire Hampton.

In the post game gathering in Torre’s office, Joe brought up the name of former Angel starter Jack Lazorko, who was fairly adept with the maneuver. Torre had worked as an Angel broadcaster and had the chance to see Lazorko make that type of play a few time.

Torre also compared the play to a hockey goalie, which is appropriate considering prior to tomorrow’s game, the Los Angeles Kings will have a few players participating in the pregame activities.

Considering Kershaw’s Texas upbringing, I asked him if he had played soccer growing up. Clayton found the question amusing, and said while he had participated as a kid, he stopped playing in the fifth grade.

Starting Early

The Dodgers got out to an early lead, with lead off hitter Rafael Furcal ripping a single to left, followed by a gift triple when Astro left fielder Carlos Lee misplayed a line drive off the bat of Orlando Hudson. Later that inning, Matt Kemp singled home Hudson to give Kershaw an early two run cushion.

And Now For Something Completely Different

The Dodger lineup had an unusual twist, as Torre had Kershaw hit eighth and Juan Pierre in the nine hole. The theory to this strategy lies in stacking three speedsters in front of Manny Ramirez. It also has the effect of giving the team two leadoff hitters hitting back to back without dropping Hudson in the lineup and keeping Manny batting third.

The results in this game were mixed, as Pierre went hitless but Hudson was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Furcal was 1-for-4 and scored once while Manny was also 1-for-4, drilling a double down the left field line during the sixth inning uprising which gave the Dodgers their margin of victory.

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