FUCK that was ugly.
Dodgers should have fielded a local Little League team. They would have made a better showing.
Boy I am sure am glad the Blue Jays traded Gabriel Moreno, one of the best young catchers in the game, for an outfielder than can’t hit.
No, wait. What’s the opposite of “glad?”
Hey, now. Only the third inning! 
Thing is, 2015, 2016, fans out here had big flags on thier car window before end of season. Even since Covid, you won’t see any until the WS. Even then, less than you’d expect. I suppose they’re waiting for the screwup, which has happened, especially to Kershaw around this time.
On Reddit, they’re going off a bit.
First pitcher in any playoff game, ever, to give up 5 runs and 5 hits before he got anyone out.
We were driving, on a road trip. We had it on XM radio, and it was painful to hear. Kershaw’s frequently poor postseason performances are baffling.
I was surprised when Roberts did not pull him before the Evan Longoria at bat. But I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered one bit.
And now, at 0445 in the morning, since I’m a Giants fan I’ve just GOTTA watch that first inning meltdown.
That was ugly.
Some comments before the first batter:
Bob Costas on Clayton Kershaw: October has not been as kind to him as April through September.
Ron Darling: 13-12 in the postseason, in 31 starts.
Costas: This is the 12th time that Kershaw has started a Game 1.
On leadoff hitter Ketel Marte’s liner to LCF, misplayed by James Outman: if Outman makes that catch it’s the first out of the inning and it could’ve been an entirely different ballgame. Instead, Marte is standing at second.
5-0 before the first out was recorded.
On the displayed graphic during the Alek Thomas AB:
13-12, 4.23 ERA
12 postseason losses: 3rd most in postseason history
11 starts (35%) allowing 4+ runs
4.69 combined ERA in the NLCS and WS
Costas, when Roberts pulls Kershaw after the Evan Longoria double: “He’s had a rough time before in the postseason. This has to be the worst of all those outings.”
0.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; 35 pitches (25 strikes)
It is baffling about Kershaw‘s October failings.
I didn’t watch the whole rant, and I’m a Twins fan. They are complaining that they took out Berrios too early (probably a justified complaint), but I haven’t heard anyone mention that the Jays scored 1 run over two games. I don’t think that the biggest problem was pitching decisions.
Probably should let RickJay answer this one, but here’s what I see:
I watched a couple of those rants, and read a few articles, and there is wailing and gnashing of teeth that they pulled Berrios early. The blame seems to go to the analytics department and the manager for “not standing up to them.”
There is much anger at baserunning blunders, though. The Jays had lots of runners but didn’t score, so several places are trying to fit the goat horns on Vlad Guerrero for “napping,” and Bichette for getting thrown out at the plate in game 1. I guess I can see anger at Guerrero, but Bichette was hustling and it took a tremendous play to nab him. And they needed runs.
Finally, the fans seem exasperated that the expensive talent didn’t come through in the clutch so they want heads to roll.
That was scored a hit, by the way. That is a stunningly bad scoring decision. The ball was easily within the range of any professional center fielder, Outman was there in plenty of time as as MLB outfielder should have been, and the ball hit him right in the glove. Nothing about the playing conditions was poor. It was a play that could have been made with ordinary effort.
Zack Wheeler is absolutely dealing, so I assume Ross Atkins is at home wondering why the Phillies aren’t pulling him.
“There’s a ground ball to second…Surrounding it is Stott…”
Interesting choice of verb there on the Phillies’ radio broadcast.
(He did make the play.)
Just sayin’ the D-backs are again kicking the ass of the Dodgers in the top of the first.
The last few innings of the Phillies/Braves game was playoff baseball at it’s best. Stolen bases. clutch hits, heads-up plays (especially the last one), pitching changes (and roster shifts in response). Great stuff!
Series even at 1-1.
Well, I’d argue that for Bryce Harper, it was very much a heads-down play.
More brilliant commentary from John Smoltz.
“They needed that.”
When the Orioles, down 6-0, finally put a run across the plate.
Then he went on to reminisce about something or other from the days when he used to be a pitcher…
Poor base running, for sure, but I’ll cut him a little slack. He wanted that tying run bad, that was a great catch, and the cutoff man missed the throw, but heads ups on the back-up (or Bryce would have made it back).
So, it was bone-headed, but not colossally bone-headed. 
He really is the current worst. He just described Houston as the Rangers’ “cross town rival”.
Where have these Rangers been all season long?
Can’t think of any other MLB playoffs where low seeds played so strongly against upper seeds. If a Phillies player had just hit that ball one yard deeper, we could have been looking at a 2-0 Phillies lead over the Braves, 3-0 Rangers sweep of Orioles, D’backs up 2-0 on Dodgers.
What do you mean? The Rangers have been pretty great all season long, right? Their run differential was 4th best in baseball. 2nd best in the AL. I think only the Braves are clearly better than them (particularly considering the Dodgers pitching woes).
8 times out of 10 that ball comes off the fence (if not over it) and Bryce scores. And he busted his ass getting back and was thrown out by a great play. Should he have paused at 2B? Maybe, but then he loses the chance to score against a shut-down closer. I would say aggressive rather than heads-down especially with the Phillies’ Manager declaring before the series that they would be running a lot - at least according to the announcers during the Game 1 5 steal-a-fest.