Clayton Kershaw gets pulled in the 5th and is not happy about it, a breakdown

Sep 12, 2019 2.2M views 2:29
MLB 2019

What Happened

In a September 2019 start against the Giants, Clayton Kershaw ran into trouble in the fifth. With a runner already on and nobody out, Kevin Pillar grinded him into a 12-pitch at-bat, fouling off anything near the zone before drawing a walk that pushed Kershaw to 99 pitches. Dave Roberts came out and pulled him, the first time all season Kershaw failed to finish the fifth. The lefty was clearly steamed, kicking the Gatorade cooler and slamming his cap on his way off. After he left, the bullpen surrendered a bomb that scored both of his inherited runners.

Why This Matters

Kershaw built his Hall of Fame case on dominance, so any sign of slipping draws eyes. This was one of his worst outings of 2019: three earned runs over four-plus innings, and the dugout meltdown told you he knew it. The fifth-inning hook matters because finishing five is the old benchmark for a quality start and a pitcher's pride. He'd already given up five earned runs once that year and failed to complete the fifth, both rare events for him, both happening in the same stretch. The timing stung with October looming. The Dodgers were cruising toward the playoffs, but Kershaw's postseason demons were a real storyline, and a tired-looking September only fed the doubt. He'd go on to take a brutal Game 5 loss to Washington that month later.

At 2.2M views, this one cracked the top 5.7% of all 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, proof that fans never get tired of watching an angry ace.

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Players: Clayton Kershaw.

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this one's a couple days old and it's

brought to you by squints apparel but

the Dodgers have some stuff going on

that they don't want to talk about or

maybe they're talking about too much