MLB playoffs: Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw rebounds from bad innings, turns in gem to silence critics

LOS ANGELES -- These days, it seems like every single Clayton Kershaw start has to be a referendum on how he performs in the playoffs versus the regular season. Sure enough, his NLCS Game 1 outing against the Brewers provided plenty of material for the folks who believe he is just terrible in the playoffs. 

Game 5 was a different story, though it looked like it might head south. He staved that off and the Dodgers would win, 5-2. 

He was very good through two innings. After a strikeout to open the third, Kershaw allowed a single to eight-hole hitter Orlando Arcia and then walked Brandon Woodruff, the opposing pitcher. Then Lorenzo Cain doubled to center to score one run and it was second and third with one out for the meat of the order. 

It had the feel of one of Kershaw's playoff stinkers. He was missing spots. He was getting squared up. One couldn't help but think back to Game 1, when he couldn't get an out in the fourth inning. 

Instead, the people who think Kershaw lacks some sort of strong mental fortitude had their narrative blown to pieces. Kershaw rebounded and was brilliant the rest of the way. 

He struck Christian Yelich out swinging on a slider. He did walk Ryan Braun, but then he got Jesus Aguilar swinging on a slider. These two were key. First off, he limited the damage to one run when it could have fallen off the proverbial rails. Secondly, he wasn't getting swings and misses with his slider last time out. That's not a figure of speech. He had zero swinging strikes with the slider in Game 1. 

In Game 5, Wednesday, Kershaw got 10 swings and misses with the slider. Quite the contrast and it was key to his rebound. 

In Game 1, Kershaw faced 18 batters and struck out two. In Game 5, he struck out nine of the 25 he faced. 

After that problematic third inning? Kershaw faced 12 hitters. He got 12 hitters out, meaning going back to the Aguilar strikeout, he retired the final 13 batters he faced. He was so good that he hit for himself in the bottom of the seventh with a 3-1 lead. He'd thrown 98 pitches, but Dave Roberts was going to stick with him. Plans changed after the Dodgers scored two runs, but this still goes to how good Kershaw was throwing the baseball after the third inning. And, really, he was only off his game for a few hitters that inning. He got Yelich and Aguilar when it mattered most. 

The final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K.

Quite simply: It looked like Kershaw was falling apart, and instead he turned in a gem to help give his team a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS. If the Dodgers win one more game and advance to the World Series, Kershaw is going to get another chance to completely silence his critics in the biggest stage.

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