One rival scout who covered Friday night’s game at Dodger Stadium said that Clayton Kershaw’s issue was not tipping pitches. Nor did the scout believe that the Cardinals were picking up signs.
No, the scout indicated that Kershaw’s problem was fatigue, saying that he lost his “edge” at around 80 pitches and no longer could command as effectively, missing in the strike zone.
The scout also noted that the Cardinals were attacking the first pitch, knowing Kershaw’s tendencies. Kershaw threw 25 of 28 first-pitch fastballs Friday night (89.3 percent), according to STATS LLC. For the season, he threw first-pitch fastballs 85.4 percent of the time, the highest percentage in the majors.
Yadier Molina had the only first-pitch hit among the six allowed by Kershaw in the Cardinals’ eight-run seventh. But hits by Jhonny Peralta, Jon Jay and Matt Adams all came within the first four pitches. And the first-pitch, two-out homer by Matt Carpenter the previous inning also was instructive.
From my position as the field reporter, I saw Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis pound his helmet three times on the dugout bench when the inning was over. Ellis told me afterward that he was upset because he “knew” Carpenter would swing at the first pitch, but never anticipated that he would hit a home run.
Ellis called for a fastball, saying he was mindful of keeping Kershaw’s pitch count down; Kershaw entered the sixth with 66 pitches and ended it with 81. Ellis figured if he called for a slider and Kershaw fell behind 1-0, the next pitch “1,000 percent” would be a fastball.
Well, Carpenter won the game within a game, and Ellis said he hit a similar pitch – a fastball that leaked back over the middle of the plate – for his three-run double in the seventh, knocking Kershaw out of the game.
