WASHINGTON _ The name on the front of the jersey trumped the name on the back.
Dave Roberts could not ignore that reality as he watched the cornerstone of the Los Angeles Dodgers wobble. While Clayton Kershaw labored through five bruising innings in Game 1 of the National League division series, Roberts harkened back to so many similar games in his first year as a manager. He has spent six months watching starting pitchers falter. The long season prepared him for this night.
For the past three years, the Dodgers asked Kershaw to carry them through October. On Friday, in a 4-3 victory over the Nationals, the roles reversed. The offense swatted two homers to offset his struggles. The bullpen collected the final 12 outs, yielding just one hit in the process.
"That's been our formula all year long," Roberts said. A playoff setting did not change his strategy. The presence of Kershaw did not make him sentimental. He maneuvered his players into position and watched them grab a game on the road.
The Dodgers will turn to Rich Hill as he faces Nationals starter Tanner Roark in Game 2 on Saturday afternoon.
In the opener, the purported pitching duel between Kershaw and Max Scherzer did not follow a classical arc. Corey Seager supplied a solo shot in the first inning and Justin Turner hit a two-run homer in the third as the Dodgers took a 4-0 lead. Kershaw handed three runs back to his hosts, battling his own command as much as his opponents.
Little came easy for Kershaw. Fastballs sailed too high. Curveballs bounced too soon. Sliders darted too far inside. He struck out seven but yielded eight hits.
"As close as you can bend without breaking," Kershaw said. "But that's our routine: I only went five, and our bullpen only gave up one hit."
The departure of Kershaw in a playoff game used to incite panic. The Dodgers experienced only calm Friday. Their bullpen led the major leagues this season in innings logged and strikeouts recorded while posting the lowest earned-run average. So Joe Blanton picked up two outs. Grant Dayton secured two. Pedro Baez recorded three.
The last five were the responsibility of Kenley Jansen. He struck out three of the six men he faced, finishing the job by fanning Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth with a slider.
"When our starters go five, we never complain about it," Jansen said. "We just go out there and do the job."
Kershaw took the mound with a one-run lead, after Seager's homer, and struck out the side. The second inning was less enjoyable. He needed 23 pitches after a pair of misplays by Chase Utley _ a double play not turned, a ground ball booted _ led to a bases-loaded jam.
The Dodgers kept attacking Scherzer. Turner noticed him ditch his fastball during the second turn through the order. Utley hit an RBI single on a slider. Two batters later, Scherzer hung a curveball, and Turner lifted it over the fence in left field.
"That's what you have to do, make adjustments on the fly," Turner said.
The flurry quieted the crowd. That would not last.
In the bottom of the third, the Nationals broke through. Bryce Harper smacked a one-out double. Werth walked. The pair executed a double steal, placing them in scoring position when third baseman Anthony Rendon whacked a misplaced slider for a two-run single.
The lead shrank to a run in the fourth. Kershaw served up a leadoff double to catcher Pedro Severino. Trea Turner brought him home with a sacrifice fly.
In the top of the fifth, Roberts needed to decide whether Kershaw could continue. His spot was due second in the order. Roberts elected to stick with his ace, who had already thrown 80 pitches.
Kershaw gave up a single to Werth and another to Rendon. But Roberts went with Kershaw for two more batters. Zimmerman flew out to left. Kershaw screamed twice after shortstop Danny Espinosa swung through a curveball. It was Espinosa's third strikeout of the day. It was Kershaw's last pitch of the night.
The relievers limited the drama. Roberts experienced a sense of calm as Blanton jogged in for the sixth.
"We've done it all year long," he said.
In the seventh, the Nationals extinguished a rally by their own hand. After Murphy coaxed a walk off Dayton, he tried to steal second off Baez. A strained buttocks sidelined Murphy during the season's final weeks. Grandal skipped a throw toward second base. Waiting for it was Charlie Culberson, who had just replaced Utley. Culberson short-hopped the ball off the dirt and applied the tag.
Jansen did not waver. He expected to pitch more than one inning Friday. He is willing to do the same Saturday. He knew he needed to be ready for anything. That's how these Dodgers, led by Roberts and fortified by their bullpen, have operated all season.
"It's not one guy that's going to carry us," Turner said. "You don't have to do it all yourself. Clayton went out there, emptied the tank for five innings and left the game with a lead. And we turned it over to our guys that have been locking down games all season long."
