MLB Roundup 10/18: Clayton Kershaw leads Dodgers to 3-2 series lead

Dodgers take 3-2 lead in NLCS

Before the Red Sox and Astros played their classic game in Houston, the Dodgers were hosting the Brewers in a pivotal Game 5 in the NLCS. L.A. seemed to have the pitching advantage, too, with Wade Miley taking on Clayton Kershaw. Well, that’s what we thought we were going to see. In a bit of gamesmanship, Brewers manager Craig Counsell lifted Miley after just one batter and brought in Brandon Woodruff from the bullpen. He was trying, and partially succeeding, to get the Dodgers to load their lineup with righties then pull the rug out from under them. L.A. may have seen this coming, though, because they did start some of their left-handed bats. Either way, now the game was really on. It was a close one most of the way through, the Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the third. Kershaw rolled after that, though, and the Dodgers started chipping away. They scored one to tie it in the fifth, then score two in each of the next two innings. The Dodgers would get the win, Kershaw would (hopefully) kill the narrative that he can’t pitch in the postseason, and Los Angeles is a win away from the World Series as this matchup shifts back to Milwaukee.

You can get the Dodgers perspective on their win here, and the Brewers perspective on their loss here.

Mets interview Dave Littlefield for GM job

Look, I think the whole “LOLMets” meme is a little overdone, and there are plenty of teams that have actually done worse than the Mets in recent history. That said....LOLMets on this story. New York let Sandy Alderson go earlier this year, and this winter they are tasked with finding a new GM. After being rejected by a few big names, including old friend Ben Cherington, they have settled on a list of names to interview. Among them is Dave Littlefield. If you don’t recall, Littlefield ran the Pirates for most of the 2000s and was an absolute disaster. I really don’t have much to say here except....why? With all of the bright baseball minds in the game right now, it is legitimately mind-blowing that a team is considering giving him one of the 30 of these positions in the world back to him. But, well, ya know. LOLMets.