In his last five starts, longtime Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw is 2-3 with a very unKershaw-like 4.34 ERA. The good news is that in those five games, he struck out a very Kershaw-like 40 batters in his combined 29.0 innings pitched. The bad news is that in those 29.0 innings pitched he allowed nine home runs and walked eight.

Breaking it down even further, for only the second time in his 25 starts this season, the 31-year-old Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in University Park, TX failed to make it past the fifth inning, including going only 4.0 innings in Friday night’s 5-4 loss to the division rival NL West third-place San Francisco Giants at a sold-out Dodger Stadium.

It is a trend which the Dodgers absolutely positively do not need while stalled at a Magic Number of four for the past three games in pursuit of their seventh consecutive NL West division title. To compound matters, fellow left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and right-hander Walker Buehler also appear to have hit the proverbial wall, having gone 1-3 and 2-1 respectively in their last five starts while allowing a combined seven home runs.

“You just never want to come out of a game, especially that early,” Kershaw said after his shortest start of the season. “Just a frustrating game, really frustrating all the way around.”

What is really frustrating is that, for only the second time in his eight-year MLB career, 31-year-old Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock hit not one, not two, but three home runs in support of Kershaw’s effort. Unfortunately, they were all solo home runs, two to left field and one to straightaway center field.

“I think I just kind of tried to dumb it down a little bit, get a good pitch to hit,” Pollock told reporters after the game. “I don’t know, some days it works. I got my pitches and put a good swing on it.”

Ironically, the only other time the Hebron, CT native had a three-home-run game was on April 30, 2018 while a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

As for the funk that his collective starting rotation is in right now, Roberts is as perplexed as anyone.

“A lot of our momentum all year long has been starting pitching,” Roberts said. “When you have good, consistent starting pitching, guys that go deep in games, that’s contagious and gives you a chance to win on a nightly basis. Look at the last two weeks — the common factor is our starters haven’t been consistent.”

In fact, the last Dodgers starter to even make it to the sixth inning was Buehler on August 27 and in their last 14 games, Dodgers starters have a combined ERA of 5.67 ERA.

“Sometimes, just like your lineup has a momentum and a confidence, same thing with a starting rotation – one guy rolls, another guy rolls,” said Kershaw. “I think maybe there’s a lot of excuses that I can come up with in my head that I need to not think of. Just need to pitch better, more than anything.”

If anything, the combined struggles that Dodgers starters are experiencing right now completely debunk the incessant and absolutely ridiculous theory of one local postgame radio show host that all of this is rookie catcher Will Smith‘s fault. While there is no disputing that the 24-year-old Louisville, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2016 out of the University of Louisville still has much to learn about working with a major league pitching staff, he isn’t the one giving up the runs, hits, home runs and walks.

But regardless, Kershaw and the rest of the Dodgers starting rotation better find it and find it fast. If they do not, the chances of the Dodgers winning their third consecutive National League pennant will fall somewhere between slim and none.

Play Ball!

    *    *    *    *    *