LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw bounced back from one of his worst postseason starts with one of his best, pitching the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 Wednesday to move one win from a return trip to the World Series.
The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in the NL Championship Series, boosted by Max Muncy’s go-ahead single in the sixth inning. Kershaw held the lead, scoring an insurance run in the seventh and then exiting.
Game 6 is Friday night in Milwaukee. The Brewers will start left-hander Wade Miley, who walked Cody Bellinger to open Game 5 before getting pulled in an interesting piece of strategy by manager Craig Counsell. Lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu will go for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers haven’t been in back-to-back World Series since losing to the Yankees in 1977 and ’78. They were beaten by Houston in Game 7 last year.
The teams reconvened less than 15 hours after the Dodgers eked out a 2-1 victory Tuesday night on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single with two outs in a 13-inning game that lasted over five hours.
Kershaw was well-rested and masterful in allowing one run and three hits over seven. He struck out nine, all on breaking pitches, and walked two.
Kershaw recovered from the shortest postseason start of his career. He lasted just three innings in losing the NLCS opener while giving up five runs - four earned - at Miller Park.
“I don’t know if it was that much better, just a little bit better execution maybe. Maybe I threw some more curveballs today than I did in Game 1,” Kershaw said.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner pitched in and out of trouble in the third, when the Brewers loaded the bases and scored their lone run. Kershaw struck out Jesus Aguilar to end the third, the first of 13 consecutive batters that the left-hander retired.
Curtis Granderson hit an RBI double in the ninth. Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers’ third pitcher of the ninth, came in for the last two outs and the save.
Brewers star Christian Yelich, who nearly won the NL Triple Crown this season, was hitless in four at-bats. He is 3 for 20 without an RBI in the NLCS.
The Dodgers’ offense broke loose with five runs over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings that had the sellout crowd of 54,502 on its feet whipping blue towels and cheering loudly.
The team that hit a franchise and NL-leading 235 home runs in the regular season did it playing small ball instead, driving in all but one of its runs on singles.
Tied 1-all, Muncy grounded a 1-2 pitch from Brandon Woodruff into left field, scoring Justin Turner, who led off wiht a single. Pinch-hitter Yasiel Puig singled to center with two outs, bringing home Manny Machado after he was hit by a pitch from Corbin Burnes.
Los Angeles extended the lead to 5-1 in the seventh on Turner’s RBI single that scored Kershaw, who walked, and pinch-hitter Brian Dozier’s RBI groundout.
Kershaw has struggled in the postseason during his career, with his numbers never matching his excellence during the regular season.
But his outing Wednesday nearly matched what he did in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against Atlanta. Kershaw allowed two hits over eight shutout innings, struck out three and walked none in the best postseason outing of his career.
The Brewers led 1-0 in the third on Lorenzo Cain’s RBI double to deep center.
Milwaukee had gone scoreless over the final eight innings Tuesday and the first two innings Wednesday.
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Miley pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings in Game 2 vs. the Dodgers, allowing two hits and walking none. Ryu gave up two runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings in that game. Ryu pitched seven shutout innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against Atlanta, allowing four hits and striking out eight.
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