The battle of the aces turned out to be a dud.
Both Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw were demolished in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday night.
Wainwright failed to make it out of the fifth inning for just the third time this season, leaving with his Cardinals down 6-1. The right-hander lasted 4 1/3 innings, tied for his shortest start of the season, while giving up a postseason career-high 11 hits.
Los Angeles catcher A.J. Ellis chased Wainwright from the contest after smacking a two-run homer in the fifth to give Kershaw a five-run cushion. The six runs Wainwright surrendered matched his playoff high from a 2012 game against the Washington Nationals.
But Wainwright was spared a loss after Kershaw had an unexpected meltdown and was hammered by the Cardinals in an eight-run seventh inning. Kershaw allowed six of those runs to score and was pulled from the contest after the left-handed hitting Matt Carpenter rocked a three-run double off the wall in right to put St. Louis in front 7-6.
Carpenter also took Kershaw deep an inning before and drove in four of the hurler's season-high eight earned runs. It marked just the second time in 28 starts this season that Kershaw has given up more than three runs in a game.
The four runs Carpenter drove in were more than Kershaw allowed to all left-handed hitters combined during the regular season.
Kershaw dominated opposing batters this season, particularly lefties, but that success didn't continue Friday. His regular season numbers vs. left-handers:
| Player | AVG | OBP | SLG | XBH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kershaw | .193 | .225 | .252 | 5 |
It was a shocking start to this series, as two of baseball's best arms came up short in their biggest game of the season to date.
