Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda — not left-hander Clayton Kershaw — will start Game 5 of the NLCS Thursday, manager Dave Roberts confirmed after Wednesday's series-tying loss in which the Cubs' bats came alive.
"It's going to be Kenta," Roberts reiterated to reporters, after a question that sought to "triple-, quadruple-check" that nothing in the 10-2 loss would lead Roberts to adjust the rotation he announced earlier in the week.
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Kershaw has pitched on short rest repeated times in this postseason, and would be doing so again if he were to start Thursday. Now, it appears he'll be pushed back to Saturday's Game 6 and likely would have limited availability if there's a deciding Game 7 the next day.
Not that the three-time Cy Young Award winner didn't offer to step up Thursday.
"Yeah, he said — he's done what he's always done in saying that he'll do whatever we ask of him," Roberts said. "So I think that for us thinking through it, the best thing for us is to have him pitch Game 6 and have Kenta to go [Thursday]. And with the guys that we have at the back end of the pen, I feel really good about the position we're in."
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Asked why he wouldn't start his left-handed ace in Game 5 and potentially have him for a longer stint in Game 7, Roberts said, "It's not an elimination game [Thursday]. And I think the accumulation of his usage over the last 10 days plays a factor in our decision. So I think those are kind of the reasons why we're not going with Clayton."
Roberts also expressed confidence in Maeda, 28: "We're expecting Kenta to go out there and throw well. And I expect for us to play a much cleaner game."
The rookie has allowed seven runs, all earned, in seven innings this postseason.
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"It's going to be an important game for the team, but it's going to be an important game for myself, too," Maeda said before Wednesday's game. "I haven't been doing well, so I really want to — I have the desire to really want to do well, and that's what I'm going to try to do."
Left-hander Jon Lester is scheduled to start for the Cubs.
