For a team that is already struggling at the plate, the last thing they want to see is the best pitcher in baseball. But that’s what happened to the New York Mets, as they were up against Clayton Kershaw on Thursday night.
Kershaw was going up against Bartolo Colon, who has hit a rough patch over the last month or so. As both teams settled in, Colon took the mound and had an effortless first inning. Colon retired the side in order on just ten pitches. Kershaw made it look just as easy when he took the hill, as he also retired the side on just ten pitches.
Both pitchers had another quick inning each in the 2nd, but then the Dodgers took the lead on a Jimmy Rollins solo home run to right-center field. Los Angeles grabbed a 1-0 lead, and that’s all Kershaw needed. Kershaw continued to pound the strike zone, and the Mets just couldn’t figure him out. The Mets were so confused, as they repeatedly took first pitch fastballs and getting behind in the count. That is one thing a team does not want to do against such a dominant pitcher, but the Mets didn’t change their approach.
As Kershaw was just rolling through the Mets’ lineup, Bartolo Colon was throwing a gem of his own after he gave up the home run to Rollins. Colon was pounding the zone as well, as he was able to keep pace with Kershaw. Both pitchers were dominant through five innings, but Kershaw was just a little bit better as he retired all 15 batters he faced.
With a perfect game going through five, Kershaw continued to make it look easy in the 6th. However, the Mets weren’t exactly making it tough on the Dodgers pitcher either, as the seventh, eighth, and ninth hitters only faced eight pitches that inning. The tension began to build in the stadium, as Kershaw was headed for perfection against the weakest lineup in baseball.
Colon also continued to throw the ball well, as he needed to be nearly perfect as well in order for his team to have a chance at a victory. He gave up a leadoff single in the 7th to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, but the Dodgers couldn’t make anything of it as the next three batters were retired.
Kershaw went back out to the mound in the bottom of the 7th, and all eyes were on him. The Dodgers pitcher faced the minimum up to this point, as the top of the order was due for up New York. Curtis Granderson was leading off, and he was already 0-for-2 on the night with two groundouts. Before he could even get set, Granderson was in an 0-2 hole. Lucky enough for him, Kershaw made a mistake and left a change up over the middle of the plate, and Granderson pulled a single to right field. Both the perfect game and no hitter were gone in an instant, and there was now a ball game in New York.
Next up for New York was Ruben Tejada, who has been one of the Mets’ best hitters of late. He was having a good battle with Kershaw, but on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Kershaw through one of his best curveballs of the game and got Tejada to swing over the top of it for the first out of the inning. Wilmer Flores was up next, and he was able to execute a successful hit-and-run play with Granderson. Unfortunately, Granderson didn’t get a good read off the bat, and couldn’t advance all the way to third.
So with one out, the Mets had a good opportunity in front of them with runners on first and second. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get it done against Kershaw. John Mayberry Jr., continued his struggles as he struck out on four pitches, and Eric Campbell followed that up with a weak ground out to shortstop.
Although he lost both the perfect game and no hitter, Kershaw was able to battle through the 7th inning unharmed, and still had the shut out intact. The Dodgers went quietly in the 8th, and Kershaw was sent back out to take care of business in the bottom half of the inning.
Lucas Duda, who has really struggled like most of his teammates, led off the inning with a single to right center. Juan Lagares was up next, and it looked like a perfect bunting situation. Kershaw started Lagares off with a ball outside, and then came the most interesting play of the night. Kershaw, who maybe threw over to first base three times all night, did just that before he delivered his next pitch.
As Kershaw threw over, it seemed like Duda was either ready to go on a hit-and-run, or just wasn’t paying attention. Kershaw picked Duda off while he was leaning towards second, and Duda was stuck in a rundown. The Dodgers executed it perfectly, and Duda was tagged out by Kershaw trying to get back to first base. New York’s rally was short lived, as Lagares grounded out on the next pitch, and then catcher Anthony Recker did the same for the last out of the inning.
The Dodgers still had their 1-0 lead headed to the 9th, and were looking to add to it. Well they certainly got some help in doing so, as Mets manager Terry Collins decided to take Colon out with just 88 pitches. It was the third questionable decision Collins made in the last two games. The first questionable decision was in Wednesday’s game against the Nationals, when he didn’t have closer Jeurys Familia up and ready in time in the 8th inning, which ended up costing them the game. Then tonight, for some odd reason, he chose to sit Daniel Murphy, who is the second best hitter on the team, in a game that the Mets needed all the help that they can get.
Collins topped it off with taking Colon out for reliever Sean Gilmartin because of the lefty-lefty match-ups with leadoff hitter Joc Pederson, and third place hitter Adrian Gonzalez. However, Gilmartin has better splits against right-handed hitters, so it didn’t make much sense, especially when Colon was have a dominant game of his own. Gilmartin gave up three straight hits to load the bases, and was quickly taken out.
Carlos Torres was called upon next with the bases loaded, but came in and threw four straight ball out of the zone and walked in a run. Torres then struck out Yasmani Grandal, but gave up a sacrifice fly to Yasiel Puig, pushing the Dodgers lead to three.
So instead of letting Colon finish the game on his own, or at least giving him a shot too, Collins decided to use two guys out of the pen. Not many fans would have cared if Colon was the one to give up those runs, because he had an outstanding night, but to take him out and hand the ball over to those guys was frustrating to see. Collins dug his team an even bigger hole, and they couldn’t climb out of it.
Kershaw took the mound in the bottom of 9th looking for his 10th career shutout, and he completed that task. He shut down the Mets in order, and recorded his 8th win of the season. In the process, Kershaw extended his scoreless innings streak to 29, proving that he and teammate Zack Greinke may be the best pitching duo in all of baseball.