Like death and taxes, you can absolutely positive count on something else as a sure thing in life: When the Dodgers lose a game that longtime Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw starts, he will take full responsibility for it, even if he had little or nothing to do with it.

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 did exactly that – again – on Friday night after his team’s embarrassing 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals in Game-2 of the 2019 National League Division Series in front of a less-than-thrilled Dodger Stadium crown of 53,086.

Although the box score will forever show that Kershaw took the loss, the glowing truth is that it wasn’t his (and his career .659 winning percentage) fault. Yes, he allowed three of the Nationals eventual four runs on six hits in his six innings of work, and yes, he walked a batter and (very) uncharacteristically hit two, but the bold – and blatant – truth is that his teammates, almost to the man, flat out threw him under the bus.

Without question, topping the list of sticking it to Kershaw (and to relievers Pedro Báez, Adam Kolarek, Dustin May, and Julio Urias who followed him) was Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who went an anemic 0-for-4 on the night with three absolutely embarrassing strikeouts on pitches the were off the plate while stranding four runners on base, including a bottom-of-the-ninth strikeout with the bases loaded to end the game.

But the blame isn’t entirely on Seager. On the night, the Dodgers struck out a combined 17 times and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. In fact, over the first two games of the 2019 NLDS, the Dodgers have struck out a combined 25 times against the team with the worst bullpen in the National League.

Worthy of mention here is that Seager, Dodgers 2019 NL MVP hopeful Cody Bellinger and left fielder A.J. Pollock are a combined 1-for-20 through the first two games of the Division Series. In fact, the only guy who has carried over his regular-season success into the postseason (thus far) is utility infielder Max Muncy, who is 3-for-6 (.500) with one home run (which included an epic bat flip) and four runs batted in through the first two games of the DS. For good measure, he has also stolen a base.

But as he always … always does, Kershaw fell on his sword and took full responsibility for the Dodgers loss in a game that they most certainly should have won.

“I was able to get out of the first inning with limited damage. That inning could have gotten bigger. That’s not what killed us,’ Kershaw said after the game. “That second inning was not good. That was the decision of the game. You get two strikes, two outs on a hitter, they shouldn’t score any runs. And they score two more, and that was the difference in the game.”

Actually the difference of the game was the Dodgers offense going a collective 5-for-31 (.161) at the plate while giving him a pathetic two runs of support.

To be fair, Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg brought his A-game on Friday night, allowing only one run on three hits while walking none and striking out 10 in his excellent six innings of work.

“We had our chances, for sure,” said Kershaw. “Stephen didn’t give us much of anything.”

Although this one falls squarely on the shoulders of the Dodgers anemic offense, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Kershaw has struggled in the postseason throughout his 12-year MLB career. With Friday night’s loss, Kershaw is now 9-11 with a 4.32 ERA in 158 career postseason innings pitched, causing one ThinkBlueLA reader to refer to him as “Curseshaw.” And while this may seem a bit harsh, it also seems accurate once the calendar flips to October.

As he always does and is supposed to do, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quickly put this one behind him and his team and found a silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud with his eight-time All-Star left-hander.

“For Clayton to save our ‘pen, as you look [forward], our high-leverage guys, a lot of our guys that we look to are rested,” Roberts said. “We’re ready for Game-3. For him to give us six innings was big.”

Now … if only his offense would get “big.”

Play Ball!

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