L.A. Dodgers use a three-run seventh inning to beat Blue Jays

National Post

a day ago

Two throwback starters and future first-ballot hall of famers, baseball's biggest star in Shohei Ohtani on a night pitting two of the best teams in what some viewed as a potential World Series preview.
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It all made for a sporting stage befitting Hollywood, by far the highest profiled and most anticipated game the Jays will play this season until the cauldron of October rolls around.
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To add to the occasion, the Max Scherzer-Clayton Kershaw pitching duel was undoubtedly their final showdown, barring that is an actual Jays-Dodgers matchup in the Fall Classic.
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Either way, Friday night at Chavez Ravine was not an ordinary game.
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Above all else, the Jays were abundantly made aware that they were not playing the Colorado Rockies.
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They were exposed to what playoff baseball is all about against the reigning champions, who have not been playing well.
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The champs, though, would rise to the challenge, while the Jays understood, if they didn't already know, how every little detail must be executed and how a bullpen can't afford to issue late-game walks in a tight game.
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The following are three takeaways from the opener of a three-game series L.A. won, 5-1, a night when Kevin Gausman would be ejected, even though he never pitched.
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1. Max out
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As if anyone needed a reminder of Scherzer's competitive spirit and how he relishes the big stage, the first inning pretty much summed it up.
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After giving up back-to-back hits, Scherzer recorded a strikeout and then watched as Davis Schneider made a great catch at the wall in left field.
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A two-out walk loaded the bases to bring Teoscar Hernandez to the plate in the game's first dramatic moment.
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The one-time Blue Jay struck out swinging.
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For Scherzer, four of his hardest pitches of the season were thrown in the first inning, when he needed 23 pitches.
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What stood out the most was his unrelenting ability to battle.
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Another rare quality the veteran possesses is how he unabashedly wears his emotion on his sleeve.
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He knew he made a mistake in the fifth inning, allowing a two-run homer to Mookie Betts. Those were the lone runs Scherzer gave up in providing his team with six complete innings.
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What he didn't receive was offensive support.
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2. Clayton curve
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His out pitch was a lights out pitch Kershaw would summon, a looping curveball that was among baseball's most lethal.