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Clayton Kershaw Proves He Can Be Big-Game Ace Dodgers Need to Finally Win Ring

As he sat before reporters in a Dodger Stadium interview room, Clayton Kershaw kept coming back to one word: huge.

Austin Barnes' game-tying single in the fifth inning? Huge.

A 5-2 win in Game 5 to put his Los Angeles Dodgers up three games to two in the National League Championship Series? Huge.

Hey, we all do it, getting stuck on one word, but Kershaw gets a break for one big (or should that be huge?) reason. Even in this era where we sometimes celebrate four-inning starts, the value of a truly dominant starting pitcher hasn't changed that much.