LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw handled his part of the deal Wednesday by trying to ensure any potential last start in his Dodgers career this season will come in the World Series, not the NLCS.
It’s Kershaw’s call on his future. He can opt out from the two years and $65 million remaining on his contract after this season or just stay in Hollywood to continue his Hall of Fame-bound career.
His seven-inning gem Wednesday in front of 54,502 at Chavez Ravine left the Dodgers within a victory of their second straight NL pennant. The NLCS will resume in Milwaukee on Friday with the Dodgers in control, following their 5-2 victory in Game 5.
“It wasn’t as easy maybe as last year to get to this point,” said Kershaw, whose Dodgers lead the series 3-2. “And we realize we’ve got some work to finish it off and get back [to the World Series]. If you would have told us in spring training we would have a chance to go back to the World Series, one game to go, we definitely would have taken that.”
Overall, he surrendered one earned run on three hits with two walks and nine strikeouts to rebound from his lackluster performance in Game 1, in which he was the losing pitcher. Kershaw would presumably be available from the bullpen if a Game 7 is needed Saturday.
The Brewers can rally around the fact they are returning to hitter-friendly Miller Park, after struggling for the past two games at Dodger Stadium, where they combined for three runs over 22 innings.
If the Brewers are going to reach the World Series for the first time since 1982, they likely will need a boost from Christian Yelich, who has been among the disappointments in this series. The NL MVP candidate is batting .150 in the NLCS following an 0-for-4 performance Wednesday.
“We were unable to score enough runs, that was the bottom line of the three games here,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We gave ourselves a chance through 12 innings [Tuesday] and six innings today to try to put ourselves in a good spot and they’ve done a good job of holding us down offensively.”
Neither Corey Knebel nor Josh Hader pitched on Wednesday for the Brewers, but it’s expected both bullpen aces will be available for Game 6.
The Dodgers moved in for the kill Wednesday with two runs in the seventh that extended their lead to 5-1. Justin Turner delivered an RBI single in the inning as part of an afternoon he reached base three times.
“We’re battling, scrapping, grinding, trying to scratch runs across,” Turner said. “It’s a lot better feeling getting on the plane going up there [ahead] three games to two than it would be if we were down.”
Yasiel Puig delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth that placed the Brewers in a 3-1 hole after reliever Brandon Woodruff was removed. In the inning, Max Muncy’s RBI single knocked out Woodruff after Manny Machado was drilled by a pitch to put runners on first and second.
The righty Woodruff had entered in the first inning after lefty starter Wade Miley (a decoy in what all along was a planned bullpen game for the Brewers) walked Cody Bellinger leading off and departed. Miley will start Game 6 on Friday.
“It was very unconventional,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Miley’s one-batter start. “But we were prepared for anything.”
Orlando Arcia’s throwing error led to the Dodgers scoring an unearned against Woodruff in the fifth that tied it 1-1. Austin Barnes, receiving a second straight start behind the plate with slumping Yasmani Grandal on the bench, delivered an RBI single that got the sellout crowd roaring.
Kershaw encountered trouble in the third, but escaped with only one run scoring, on Lorenzo Cain’s RBI double. But with runners on second and third, Kershaw struck out Yelich before walking Ryan Braun to load the bases and striking out Jesus Aguilar to end the inning.
“Any time you can work out of situations like that it’s going to make or break the game,” Kershaw said. “Minimizing damage as best you can as a starting pitcher is huge. In the playoffs you probably don’t get many chances to work out of jams because you’re going to get taken out of the game because the magnitude of the game is so large.”