The first great team from the Andrew Friedman era came within one game of reaching the ultimate goal despite all of the shenanigans, malfeasances, and such they had to deal with during the 2017 World Series. We aren’t here to dwell on the what-ifs; there’s been plenty of that for far too long. We’re here to remember a specific game that gets lost in the weeds of all that happened in that Fall Classic—one that, had Kenley Jansen completed the save, had Yu Darvish not completely imploded in Game 7, had one of many things gone differently, would be lauded to this day. Before all that transpired in this series, Clayton Kershaw was magnificent in Game 1, unhittable, his pristine great self in leading the Dodgers to a narrow victory over the Astros.
Before addressing that specific game, perhaps it’s worth, with the benefit of hindsight, pondering if 2017 was in fact, the last great chance for Kershaw to dramatically flip the script on the narrative of his postseason woes. Kershaw handled his decline with as much grace and adaptability as any superstar could ever hope for. Even in the twilight years of his career, the left-hander found ways to be significantly above average while also being a shell of his former self. By the time that first championship came around, Kershaw was still superb, but Walker Buehler was the fear-inducing presence amongst starters on that team. The performances throughout that extended postseason were great, but it was no longer truly his team; it was more of him being a part of it. Sure, the individualization of teams is an overplayed and quite tiresome phenomenon, but that doesn’t mean none of these points aren’t true.
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If we account for the painful memories of 2019 and that in 2018, the Dodgers had a mountain to climb against a historically good Boston Red Sox team, that 2017 squad, still with Kershaw as its unquestionable ace, represented the last chance for this future Hall of Famer to change the narrative, and for a while, it looked like he’d do it. While even in 2017, one could argue he had already taken a small step back from his dominant era between 2011 and 2014, Kershaw was still inarguably amongst the game’s best, even if he couldn’t sit at 95 mph consistently.
After a pedestrian showing in Game 1 of the NLDS in 2017, one that still saw Kershaw earn the win over the Diamondbacks, the left-hander was terrific in helping the Dodgers win the NL pennant. The Dodgers won all three of Kershaw’s starts in the NLDS and NLCS, including a performance of six one-run innings to help clinch the NL pennant in Wrigley. Kershaw on one side, Justin Verlander on the other — on top of many other narratives, that World Series featured two of the great pitchers of the 21st century looking to put past postseason woes behind them in search of that elusive first championship.
Unfortunately, the schedules weren’t lined up as Houston went to the wire to beat the Yankees in the ALCS, so Kershaw had to face Dallas Keuchel in Game 1 of that World Series—the left-hander delivered in yet another game that the Dodgers’ offense didn’t give him a whole lot of support, scoring only three runs.
Facing a righty-heavy lineup with the likes of Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, George Springer, and José Altuve, all while possessing the ability to actually surprise them with his patented down-and-in slider, Kershaw gave no quarter in a masterful showing of seven one-run innings to earn his first World Series win.
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Springer, in particular, who would go on to torch the Dodgers in that series, gave no signs of what was to come, as he struck out all three times against Kershaw and then one more against Kenley Jansen just for good measure.
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The one time the Dodgers’ starter might’ve been slightly rattled, following giving up a solo shot to Alex Bregman, he punched out the side in order, retiring Altuve, Correa, and Gurriel.
Here are all of Kershaw’s 11 strikeouts:
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And since the other two hits Kershaw allowed were both singles, when he left the mound after seven innings of work, the Astros hadn’t had a single at-bat with a runner in scoring position. Whatever happened after this game, one could not ask anything more out of even the very best in these circumstances against such a talented opponent.
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