You wouldn’t normally lavish praise on a starting pitcher for going 3.2 innings, but the perspective changes when he outperforms two Cy Young winners. Keegan Thompson went nearly four times as many innings as Clayton Kershaw managed in the first game of the Cubs’ doubleheader with the Dodgers, then he put up a better game score than Trevor Bauer in the nightcap. And if you think I’m cherry-picking with an unfair comparison on that first one, you’re damn right.
Kershaw’s performance was an aberration, perhaps brought on by the cool temps and David Ross‘s comments about Sunday’s loss in Cincy feeling like a playoff game.