The afternoon, unusual as it was, started off in such uplifting fashion. The Nationals used a pinch-hit home run from Matt den Dekker and three scoreless innings of relief from Aaron Barrett, Casey Janssen and Drew Storen to win the completion of Friday night’s suspended game, 5-3 over the Dodgers.
And then Clayton Edward Kershaw, 27-year-old left-hander from Los Angeles via Dallas, took the mound at Nationals Park and all those good vibes dissipated into the thick midsummer air, overcome by as dominant a pitching performance as has been seen in these parts in a long time.
Over eight utterly brilliant innings, Kershaw turned the Nationals lineup into mincemeat.