Despite lacking his usual command and enduring a couple wobbly innings, Clayton Kershaw was given an opportunity to start the fifth, presumably in part because the Los Angeles Dodgers had just tied it in the top half of the inning.
But after a leadoff walk followed by a single, Kershaw was removed in favor of Ryan Madson. The veteran right-hander was acquired at the waiver trade deadline in August, and had been lights-out for the Dodgers thus far in the postseason.
That’s what made his first offering to Steve Pearce — a wild pitch — all the more perplexing.