4 things that stood out from Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks NLDS Game 1

LOS ANGELES — Friday night at Dodger Stadium provided quite the theater, with the Los Angeles Dodgers prevailing over the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-5. We saw the latest in a series of short starts by pitchers this postseason, we saw Clayton Kershaw tie a dubious record while earning a win, we saw Justin Turner continue his NLDS dominance, and we saw Yasiel Puig get his licks in, literally.

Here are the memorable moments from Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner got things started with a three-run homer in the first inning, one of three run-scoring hits he had on the night. Turner drove in five runs in the win, tying a Dodgers franchise record for a postseason game.

In 13 Division Series games spread over the last four seasons, Turner is 19-for-40 with nine extra-base hits and 14 RBI, hitting .475/.571/.825. He owns the highest batting average in Division Series history (minimum 40 plate appearances), not that he is paying attention to those statistics.

“In the playoffs your numbers, our numbers individually don’t matter. It’s about doing whatever it takes to win a ballgame,” Turner said. “If you make an out, whatever happens, it doesn’t matter. It’s about finding a way to pick up the next guy, find a way to get it done. Also just to embrace it and be in the moment and enjoy it.”

Arizona turned to Taijuan Walker to start Game 1, and boy did he labor. In addition to the three-run home run to Turner, Walker allowed another single and then a double by Puig to widen the Dodgers’ advantage to 4-0.

Walker faced nine batters in the first inning, throwing a whopping 48 pitches, and that was it.

“He just never got into a rhythm,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It made the decision to take him out after the first inning easier. Forty-eight pitches in one inning is a lot for any pitcher to absorb.

Through four days so far this postseason, there have been eight games, and 16 starting pitchers. Walker is among the half of them who failed to complete even four innings, including the trio of Walker, Luis Severino and Jon Gray, who weren’t able to finish two innings.

Starting pitchers so far in these playoffs have a 6.72 ERA.

Lovullo said Walker might be available in relief later in the series.

Clayton Kershaw allowed 23 home runs in the regular season, seven more than he has given up in any other year of his career. He still led the National League in ERA, mind you, but long balls were a problem for him in 2017.

On Friday that trend continued, with Kershaw tying a major league record by giving up four home runs in a postseason game. Two came in the seventh inning, after which he was pulled with one out in the inning.

“I just didn’t have much left, I don’t know,” Kershaw said. “Hopefully when you give up hits, maybe one or two would stay in the ballpark. But tonight it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.”

But thanks to the early offense against Walker, Kershaw picked up the win, allowing only one other hit to Arizona: a single.

Puig drove in two runs of his own on Friday, including that RBI double in the first inning. Before hitting the double, Puig licked his bat and seemed disgusted by the taste of pine tar.

“It doesn’t seem like the most sanitary thing to do, but if he keeps getting hits, I hope he does it more,” Kershaw quipped.

But there was another tongue-related incident that Puig added later. In the seventh inning, he tripled and after sliding into third base, he wagged his tongue to his teammates in the Dodgers’ third base dugout.

“I see my teammates so excited on the bench, and I don’t know,” Puig explained, laughing. “Maybe ice cream is in front of me or something like that.”

“That’s what Yasiel does. He’s called the wild horse for a reason,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Sometimes you shake your head. Sometimes you smile. But he’s a heck of a talent, and he helped us win a baseball game tonight.”