Clayton Kershaw in October is not a match made in heaven.
On Wednesday night, the Dodgers lefty doubled down (well, this has happened more than twice – we know) on the bad postseason reputation when he came out of the bullpen against the Washington Nationals, clutching a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning of the winner-take-all NLDS Game 5.
After striking out Adam Eaton to end the seventh, the three-time Cy Young Award winner gave up back-to-back home runs to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto to begin the eighth inning, turning a two-run Dodgers lead into a 3-3 tie.
Two innings later, the Nats were sporting new hats and celebratory shirts, doused in champagne after pulling out a 7-3 win in 10 innings.
How did Los Angeles Dodgers fans spend their postgame festivities? By vandalizing Kershaw's jersey following the devastating loss.
One clip showed a "fan" taking off his Kershaw jersey and tossing it on to the field and quickly running away. It appeared this occurred while the game was still being played,
This Dodgers fan was so fed up, he flung his Kershaw jersey onto the field 💀
(via _thehoopgod, saljmenez/IG) pic.twitter.com/3ci5ozPmrG— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 10, 2019
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Another clip showed individuals offering to have cars run over their Kershaw jerseys outside of Dodger Stadium as fans left. The person recording the video announced he would participate in doing so as well:
They're running over Clayton Kershaw's jersey with their cars in L.A.
(via @LZGranderson)pic.twitter.com/c4zh7pC1W6— Yahoo Sports MLB (@MLByahoosports) October 10, 2019
"This is so much better than burning it by the way," the person recording said. "It's so much better for the environment."
The "fan" sporting a Dodgers poncho referred to the Kershaw garb as the "choke jersey," as he guided individuals to run the uniform over.
Giants faithful had a field day on social media, knowing the passionately disliked Dodgers would not advance to the next round of the postseason. Twitter was filled with screengrabs of Kershaw sitting with his head down in the dugout, symbolizing the ace's continued postseason failure.
pic.twitter.com/0bKMo3lmjF— LOLKNBR (@LOLKNBR) October 10, 2019
[RELATED: Dodgers loss clinches memorable decade for Giants fans]
But despite his postseason shortcomings, Kershaw has a sparking résumé filled with accomplishments most fans could only dream of.
There's passion toward wanting to win, and then there's this. This is not sportsmanship. This is vandalism.
Go ahead and frame that Kershaw jersey. The tire marks will add some character to it when he's inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
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