The Kershaw Leap

In Football there is the Lambeau Leap and in Baseball, there is now the Kershaw Leap. In the top of the fifth inning with the Dodgers holding a commanding 9-1 lead, one of the Washington Nationals hit a screaming line drive towards third base. Nick Punto, all 5'9" of him, leaped high into the air to snag the line drive. The replay showed Clayton Kershaw leaping high into the air at the same time Punto did like he was going to catch the line drive himself. His eyes were glued on Punto the entire time and it was like he was willing Punti to catch the ball. That kind of passion displayed by Kershaw was just a natural display of a desire to win in a game, for all practical purposes, that was already over. He dispalyed that same sort of passion when he struck out twice, swinging at bad pitches. The Dodgers scored 7 runs in the top of the second on the strength of a lead off solo home run by Matt Kemp his 5th, fresh off the Disabled List, and a three-run home run by Hanley Ramirez, his 10th, both off hanging sliders from Nationals' starter Jordan Zimmerman. Matt Kemp ended up 3 for 4 with 3 RBI's, but twisted his ankle making the final out of the top of the 9th. It was a meaningless play in what ended up being a 9-2 win and now Kemp is going to miss even more time. Clayton Kershaw (9-6) pitched 7 innings, allowing 2 hits (both long, solo home runs by ex-Dodger Jayson Werth) and struck out 9 with no walks. Kemp, Carl Crawford, and Mark Ellis all had three hits and Kemp and Ramirez had 3 RBI's a piece. The Dodgers handed Jordan Zimmerman his first home loss on the season.