When it was announced earlier this week that 31-year-old Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu would be starting Game-1 of the 2018 National League Division Series against the NL East champion Atlanta Braves instead of staff ace Clayton Kershaw, the first reaction by Dodger fans ranged anywhere from “What?” to “You’re kidding, right?”

I mean, let’s face it, not only has Kershaw pretty much started every Game-1 of every postseason series that the Dodgers have been in since he made his MLB debut on May 25, 2008, he has also pretty much started every series the Dodgers have played since making his MLB debut.

But for anyone who knows Kershaw, even if only slightly, they know full well that there is not a greater team player in the organization – not now, and not back on May 25, 2008. The primary reason is, of course, that despite putting up Hall of Fame-worthy numbers and countless other personal achievements and accomplishments over his brilliant 11-year MLB career, the one that has eluded the 30-year-old Dallas, Texas native and Dodgers 2006 first-round draft pick is a World Series Championship’; and that absolutely positively irks him to no end beyond all of his individual accolades.

“Good question,” Kershaw told reporters in mock disapproval when asked if not starting Game-1 was a “gut punch” to him. “It wasn’t really an agree or disagree type thing, I guess. They had their reasons. I accepted them.

“I wouldn’t really consider it a gut punch, I don’t really think of it like that,” Kershaw added. “I think: ‘I get to pitch in another playoff series for the sixth year in a row.’ I’m looking forward to it.”

A team player indeed.

So, how did things work out for Ryu in Thursday night’s NLDS opener in front of a very loud Dodger Stadium crowd of 50,947?

In a word … Historic.

Ryu was absolutely brilliant in his NLDS start on Thursday evening at Dodger Stadium … and then some.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Not only did the 6′-3″ / 250-pound Incheon, South Korea native limit the Braves to no runs and only four hits while striking out eight and walking none in his brilliant 7.0 innings pitched, in doing so, he did this:

“I think we feel pretty good about it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, when asked about his decision to start Ryu over Kershaw, thereby giving both lefties one additional day of rest between starts.

As for Ryu, he sees his outing on Thursday evening as the culmination of three years of hard work while working through a series of (very) serious injuries, including a torn left groin suffered on May 3, 2018.

“The three-year process was tough, but tonight seems to be the fruition of all that hard work I put in,” said Ryu.

And what did the competition think of Ryu’s stellar and historic outing on Thursday?

“He did what we knew he was going to do,” said Braves All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman. “He pitches backwards. Every time you think you’re going to get something, it’s always the opposite. He commands up, down, in and out. The back-door cutters were big against righties and he kept throwing change-ups to lefties, which kept us off-balance.”

Of course, not allowing any runs is only one-half of the equation necessary for success. The other is offense, and the Dodgers did plenty of than in Thursday’s NLDS opener. Ryu was the beneficiary of six runs, five by way of the long ball and the sixth the result of a timely sacrifice fly.

As he has done seven previous times this season, Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson got the party started in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff  solo home run to right-center field.

Not to be outdone, Dodgers 2018 home run leader Max Muncy slugged a back-breaking (for Atlanta) three-run home run to right in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 4-0 ballgame.

In the bottom of the sixth, a smoking red-hot Kiké Hernandez hit a laser-shot solo home run into the Left Field Pavilion to make it 5-0, to completely take the Braves out of the game.

Just as they often did throughout the 2018 regular season, the Dodgers used the long ball to take Game-1 of the 2018 NLDS, with home runs by Joc Pederson (solo), Max Muncy (three-run), and Kiké Hernandez (solo) in Thursday’s 6-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The Dodgers added one more run in the bottom of the eighth on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to right field by proven postseason hero and Dodgers relative newcomer (at the August 31 waiver trade deadline) David Freese.

Left-handers Caleb Ferguson and Alex Wood, and right-hander Dylan Floro sealed the deal by tossing 1.0, 0.2, and 0.1 scoreless innings respectively.

So who’s starting Game-2 for the Dodgers?

You know….

Play Ball!