Kershaw can't contain Brewers in shortest postseason start of career

Clayton Kershaw failed to make it out of the fourth inning in the opening game of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers ace allowed five runs - four earned - on six hits and two walks while striking out two, turning it over to Ryan Madson in the fourth, who allowed one inherited run to score.

Of Kershaw's 21 postseason starts, Friday's tilt at Miller Park marked the shortest of his playoff career.

Milwaukee wound up winning Game 1, as the bullpen endured an eighth-inning rally from the Dodgers to lock down a 6-5 win. Beyond Gio Gonzalez's two-inning start, the Brewers used six relievers for their 12th straight win.

After allowing a leadoff single to Lorenzo Cain to start Game 1, Kershaw bounced back with a sharp inning that included a 10-pitch strikeout of likely-NL MVP Christian Yelich. The left-hander kept rolling in the second frame with a quick 10-pitch inning that included three groundouts.

However, the three-time Cy Young winner ran into trouble in the third, allowing a home run to Brewers reliever Brandon Woodruff. Milwaukee tacked on another run thanks to a rough inning from Yasmani Grandal behind the plate, who was charged with a passed ball, catchers interference, and an error all in the same frame.

Despite those troubles, Kershaw came out to start the fourth, allowing the first three batters to reach base and a run to score before Madson took over.

In recent postseason starts, Kershaw flipped the script on his previous playoff woes. Since the beginning of the 2017 postseason, he has authored a 3.07 ERA over 41 innings. Friday's game against the Brewers will swell Kershaw's ERA over that span to 3.68.