Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw dominates Atlanta Braves

Clayton Kershaw limits the Atlanta Braves to two hits over eight innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers seize a 2-0 NLDS advantage

Remember that long-accepted narrative about Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw’s inability to perform in the post-season? It’s in the process of being re-written.

In Game Two of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Kershaw shut out the Atlanta Braves on just two hits through eight innings of the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory. The defending National League champions will take a 2-0 series edge into Game 3 of their best-of-five series with the Braves Sunday in Atlanta.

They can thank Kershaw, who gave the Braves no chance Friday. After Ronald Acuna Jr. drove the game’s first pitch into center for a two-base hit, Kershaw held Atlanta to only one more hit, Ender Inciarte’s fifth inning two-out, infield bleeder. He only struck out three but did not walk anybody and mastered the art of soft contact.

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It marked the first time in Kershaw’s 20 post-season starts that he went more than six innings. Coming into the game his post-season ERA was 4.35; leaving the mound it was 4.08.

Kenley Jansen polished off the Braves on one more hit in the ninth.

As it did in Thursday’s first game of the series, a 7-0 Dodger victory, LA’s offense needed just one first-inning swing to net all the runs that would be required. On Friday that swing came from Manny Machado, who followed Joc Pederson’s leadoff double with a home run to left-center.

Yasmani Grandal provided an insurance run with another home run in the fifth. Both came off Braves starter Anibal Sanchez.

The NL East champion Braves will return home seeking to extend the best-of-five series. But they’ll have to overcome what amounts to a home field disadvantage to do so. The Braves’ 43-38 regular season home record was the worst among the 10 post-season qualifying teams, who collectively averaged 49 wins on their home fields.

Atlanta has not scored a post-season run since the seventh inning of the fourth game of their 4-3 2013 division series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a futility string that now stretches to 20 innings.