Editorials

Dodgers-Cardinals NLCS Game 6 Recap: 2013 Season Comes To A Close

Game 6 got off to an odd start as Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke and Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly engaged in a standoff. Both players stood on the field for a good 10 minutes before the home plate umpire told both of them to get off the field.

Carl Crawford got things started with an infield single to short, but was quickly erased on a Mark Ellis double play and Adrian Gonzalez end the first inning with a grounder to third. In the bottom of the inning, Matt Carpenter struck out against Clayton Kershaw, but Carlos Beltran roped a double down the left field line.



Kershaw settled in and retired Matt Holliday via strikeout and Yadier Molina grounded out to second to end the threat. Against Michael Wacha, the Dodgers didn’t do much in the second inning as Hanley Ramirez flew out on one pitch and Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig struck out to end the inning.

David Freese flied out to shallow center and Matt Adams flied out to Ramirez at shortstop, but Shane Robinson smacked a two-out single through the left side. Robinson would move up to third on consecutive pitches in the dirt, but Kershaw would strand him there after striking out Pete Kozma to send the game to the top of the third.

While Wacha retired the Dodgers in order, Kershaw totally melted down with one-out. Carpenter doubled on an 11-pitch at-bat and Beltran knocked him in with a single to right, putting the Cardinals ahead 1-0. Puig would throw home for no reason, allowing Beltran to move up to second with just one out.

After Holliday struck out on three pitches, Kershaw wasn’t able to end the inning as Molina singled up the middle, scoring Beltran and making it 2-0 Cardinals. Freese would then single up the middle and on a 3-2 count to Adams, Kershaw looked to have strike three, but it was called a ball, loading the bases.

Robinson, who hit a pinch-hit home run in Game 4, broke his bat, but got a single through the right side and the Cardinals put two more on the board and extended their lead to 4-0. The one thing Wacha didn’t want to do in the bottom of the inning was walk the lead off batter, but he walked Crawford in the fourth.

However, Mark Ellis, Gonzalez and Ramirez all popped out to end any threat. Kershaw fired a zero in the bottom of the fourth while Wacha put up another zero in the top of the fifth and halfway through Game 6, the Dodgers trailed 4-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Kershaw couldn’t get out of his own way as he allowed three consecutive hits before the Cardinals knocked him out, trailing 5-0. The final line on Kershaw was four innings, 10 hits, seven earned runs and five strikeouts as the third inning was his undoing in arguably the biggest game of his career.

The Cardinals would go on to score another two runs and their lead exploded to 9-0 as Ronald Belisario and J.P. Howell came on to end the inning.

The Dodgers would go quietly into the night and their 2013 season came to a close after the 9-0 NLCS Game 6 loss. It was quite the season, everything considered for the Dodgers as they were 30-42 and in last place on June 22 and were just two wins away from the World Series. It’ll be interesting what changes are made in the offseason, but it was an incredible ride to say the least.

Ross Gasmer

Ross Gasmer is a Social Media Producer for @TheHerd and was a contributing writer and editor for Dodger Nation. Follow him on Twitter @Ross_Gasmer12

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