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Following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ heartbreaking World Series loss to the Houston Astros, one Dodger was particularly hard on himself. Almost as hard as he throws his fastball.
Ace Clayton Kershaw has long been noted for his remarkable regular-season performances that are followed up by postseason struggles. This was again the case in 2017. For the first time in his career, Kershaw helped L.A. to the World Series, but when Kershaw needed to perform in a crucial Game 5 against Houston, his numbers were dismal (6 runs allowed in 4.2 innings pitched). Of course, Game 5 would prove to be wild, with Houston prevailing 13-12 in ten innings. After Game 7 was in the books, with Houston celebrating down the hallway at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw told it like it was.
“Maybe one of these days I won’t fail, we won’t fail and we’ll win one of these things,” Kershaw said. “I think once the dust settles and we go home, we can realize that we had a pretty amazing season and we finished in second place, which nobody cares about or remembers.”
What a gut-wrenching reaction from a great guy who might be the most dominant pitcher of his generation. Kershaw deserves better than second place, and it just seems like this Dodger team will figure things out sooner than one might think.
Here’s what else is happening around the National League:
Yasiel Puig experienced, what we call, a double-whammy. Just hours after losing Game 7 of the World Series, Puig returned home to find his house burglarized. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the burglary at Puig’s Encino home, a property that has become a target for such criminal activity—this is the second Puig has been robbed this year. The first occurred in March at Puig’s Sherman Oaks residence.
The odds are out! Westgate released all 30 MLB teams’ chances of taking home the World Series title in 2018. The top NL teams are, in order: Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, New York, St. Louis, and Arizona. Check out the full list in the above link.
Andrew McCutchen will stay a Buc, at least for 2018. Pittsburgh picked up McCutchen’s option for $14.5 million. McCutchen will then become a free agent for 2019 and beyond.