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Los Angeles Times

Sport

Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke: Dodgers' October nightmare is once again staring them in the face

The Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna reacts after scoring a run on a double by Freddie Freeman against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves won, 10-2, for a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Horror of horrors, it's happening again.

Clayton Kershaw is trudging off the mound with his head hanging, again.

Dave Roberts is staring into space with his eyes flaring, again.

The Atlanta Braves' Cristian Pache, left, and Johan Camargo celebrate in the dugout after teammate Marcell Ozuna hit a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves won, 10-2, for a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

The Dodgers offense is flailing carelessly into the winter, again.

Again, again, again, the Dodgers are blowing October.

A season that was supposed to be different skidded toward a familiar ditch Thursday with the same unbearable screeching that Dodger fans have endured for eight years.

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, right, greets manager Brian Snitker after a 10-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves now hold a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

This time it was the Atlanta Braves, this time it was the National League Championship Series, but this time it was like every other time.

The Dodgers, with momentum on their side and Kershaw on their mound, watched both slip away in defining postseason loss to a clearly undermanned opponent.

The Braves won Game 4, 10-2, to take a seemingly insurmountable three-games-to-one lead in a series that looks so familiar because it shouldn't be looking like this.

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner dives but can't reach a sixth-inning RBI double by the Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

On a windy night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the Dodgers were coming off a 15-3 Game 3 victory and had their future Hall of Famer facing somebody named Bryse Wilson, a 22-year-old kid who had pitched in 15 big-league games.

It felt like a lock. It turned out to be a mess. The Dodgers offense lost its mind in impatiently hacking out one hit in six innings against the rookie.

Kershaw lost his grip after five strong innings, allowed hits to the first three batters in the sixth, and finished with another fall failure.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw talks with the home plate umpire after the first inning against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Roberts lost his bearings by leaving Kershaw in the game one batter too long in that sixth, and where have you heard something like that before?

This may have been Atlanta in 2020, but the combined failures echoed through Washington in 2019, Boston in 2018, Houston in 2017, the Chicago Cubs in 2016, the New York Mets in 2015, and St. Louis in 2014 and 2013.

This has happened so much, to expect something different is the definition of insanity, which much describes what it feels like to keep believing in these guys.

The Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson hits a two-run double against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves won, 10-2, for a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

There are potentially three more games in this best-of-seven series, but the Dodgers must win all three against a team that has already beaten their best pitchers and shut down their best hitters. One night after seemingly gaining control, the Dodgers are suddenly looking like a lost cause. The fate of the season now rests in the right arm of Dustin May, who will start Game 5 Friday night against a bunch of Braves pitchers who have been tons of tough.

And, by the way, in all of baseball history, teams that have trailed three games to one have won but 13 times in 87 series.

"They still have to beat us another time, and I still believe in everyone in that clubhouse," said Roberts.

The Atlanta Braves' Cristian Pache bunts the ball foul against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Yet on the 32nd anniversary of Kirk Gibson's World Series home run, this wasn't a game, it was blasphemy.

Start with the league-best offense, whose trademark this season was to patiently wear down pitchers before smothering them. Not this time. Not even against seemingly the most vulnerable of arms.

In the first inning, Mookie Betts swung at Wilson's second pitch. So did Corey Seager. The kid needed just nine pitches to get out of the inning. It was the same with the second inning, only nine more pitches, and by the time the sixth inning ended Wilson had barely broken a sweat, throwing only 74 pitches, giving up just an Edwin Rios home run.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Bryse Wilson throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

The same could not be ultimately said of Kershaw, who yielded just four hits over the first five innings but suddenly found himself stumbled under pressure in the sixth.

With the score tied 1-1, Ronald Acuna Jr. led off by reaching second on a chopper over Kershaw's head that Kike Hernandez threw wildly to first. Then Freddie Freeman stroked an RBI double into deep right field to give the Braves the lead.

Then up stepped Marcell Ozuna, who had hit the ball hard against Kershaw in two previous at-bats, including hammering a long home run in the fourth. Kershaw had thrown 81 pitches at the time. It seemed a perfect time to lift him.

The Atlanta Braves' Ozzie Albies slides in safely to score on a sixth-inning double by Dansby Swanson as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes takes the throw from left field in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Roberts disagreed.

"The inning prior...was a clean inning," Roberts said. "I thought Clayton was throwing the ball well and there was no reason. I felt really good about it."

Kershaw stayed. Ozuna wailed. He worked the count full and then powered a line drive into left-center field to score another run, forcing Kershaw to the dugout while opening the floodgates.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Edwin Rios (43) hits a solo home run in the third inning against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Afterward Kershaw was asked a question he has been asked a million different times over the last eight Octobers _ what was he trying to do with the hitter that beat him?

"Get him out," he said wearily.

The Braves scored six runs that inning after the appearance of rookie relievers Brusdar Graterol and Victor Gonzalez, and Kershaw wound up being charged with three of them, four overall.

The Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna stops for a fun selfie while rounding the bases on a seventh-inning home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

"Yeah, it's a tough way to go in that sixth inning, for sure," said Kershaw, and how many times has he said that? Kershaw now has a 4.31 postseason ERA in comparison to a 2.43 regular season ERA, and even though he wasn't completely to blame Thursday, that disparity will continue to haunt.

"That narrative couldn't be further from the truth," Roberts said. But it is the truth, just like the Dodgers' postseason failings continue to be a somber reality on a night when the best team in baseball was the worst team in October.

Again.