After yet another monster home run – his third in only his 10th major league game – Dodgers rookie outfielder Scott Schebler was yet again asked if it bothered him to be playing in the shadow of rookie sensation Corey Seager – this time worded as “swimming in Corey’s wake.” And just as he has done every other time he has been asked this increasingly annoying question, the soon-to-be 25-year-old Cedar Rapids, Iowa native yet again took the high road with his answer that will hopefully… hopefully put this matter to rest.

“He deserves all the attention he gets. I mean, look at what he’s doing,” Schebler answered about his very close friend and former roommate. “No… no, I don’t mind being [the] under-the-radar guy, that’s fine. But yeah, he deserves everything he gets.”

After being intentionally walked in his first at-bat by Colorado Rockies right-hander Jon Gray, Schebler struck out in his next two at-bats, swinging at pitches that were well out of the strike zone and even in the dirt. But in his fourth at-bat with the Dodgers clinging to a precarious 2-1 lead and with their ace Clayton Kershaw now out of the game, the 6′-0″, 225-pound right-handed throwing / left-handed batting Schebler – who resembles a football running back – absolutely crushed Rockies reliever Miguel Castro’s 96-MPH fastball that landed halfway up the Right Field Pavilion to give the Dodgers a far more comfortable 4-1 lead.

“[Castro] threw me two change-ups to start and I chased one in the dirt – just like I had in the previous couple of at-bats,” Schebler said. “You gotta sit fastball because he threw 97, 98. You can’t catch up to that if you’re looking for something else.”

Schebler’s monster two-run home run in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game was estimated at 434 feet by homeruntrackeronline.com. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNetLA)

As for those ‘previous couple of at-bats,’ Schebler is well aware that they were not among his best.

“It couldn’t get much worse than the first couple of at-bats. I was taking strikes right down the middle and swing at stuff in the dirt, so I pretty much told myself to calm down,” Schebler said. “Hey, it can’t get much worse than those first at-bats and just see if you can get a pitch up and he threw a pitch up for me.”

When asked how he calms himself down in a high-leverage situation such as his at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning of a one run ballgame, Schebler’s answer was a bit surprising; then again, maybe it wasn’t surprising at all.

“A.J. [Ellis] is helping with me, helping a lot with that,” said Schebler. “He’s like ‘Hey, if you ever get in a moment like that, try to count your breaths – it’s something to slow you down. All the guys here have been amazing as far as like bringing me in and just talking to me and really teaching me ways to calm it down. It can snowball-effect really quickly, especially with… I mean you’ve got a big crowd out there, you can snowball pretty fast.”

As it turned out, Schebler’s monster two-run blast wasn’t needed to get Kershaw his 14th win of the season but it undoubtedly took a lot of pressure off of his teammates (and Dodger fans), especially with Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen being unavailable. Jansen had appeared in the two previous games against the Arizona Diamondback and had thrown 33 pitches the night before. This forced Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to use Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde right-hander Chris Hatcher as his closer.

After getting Rockies All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado to line out to Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson, Hatcher gave up a one-out single to Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez. This brought up Rockies first baseman Wilin Rosario, who drove Hatcher’s 84-MPH hanging slider to the warning track in center field where Pederson was able to chase it down for the second out of the inning. After CarGo took second on defensive indifference, Hatcher escaped disaster on a hard-hit grounder that was headed for the right field corner were it not for a dazzling short-hop grab by Dodgers Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for the final out of the game.

Although defending 2014 NL MVP and Cy Young award-winner Clayton Kershaw considered his outing anything but perfect, his numbers say otherwise. He allowed only one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts in seven innings of work to pick up his 14th win of the season while lowering his ERA to 2.12 – third best in the MLB.

Just another ho-hum three-hitter by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

When asked if he, unlike his teammate Zack Greinke, gives much thought to the Cy Young award race, the 27-year-old Dallas, Texas native gave yet another textbook Clayton Kershaw succinct answer:

“No, that’s not my main concern. I don’t think Zack has too much to worry about though.”

That is soooo Clayton Kershaw.