A fist pump, and a sigh of relief

For some, the ninth inning was the most stressful frame of Wednesday night’s Dodgers-Giants matchup. For me, it was the eighth.

At about 1:37 of the video below, Kershaw catches Giants’ pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez looking. Kershaw, who is usually pretty mild-mannered and not demonstrative during his starts, gives a mini fist pump and lets out a primal yell.

He didn’t over-do it. It was quick. It was intense. It was something Dodger fans needed to see.

Kershaw gutted-out a 132-pitch, 15 strikeout complete game win, giving the Dodgers some additional room to breathe in their division.

Kershaw is the unquestioned leader of the Dodgers, who are not 18 games above .500, sitting on a 6 1/2 game cushion in the National League West. Kershaw’s team is not a generally demonstrative one. Veteran stars like Adrian Gonzalez keep a levelheaded energy that is really great for managing a 162 game season.

Some games, though, mean more than others. Over the stretch run, the Dodgers’ games against the second-place and rival Giants have a heightened atmosphere. It’s nice to see the team step things up and show how dominant they can be in those situations.

After seeing the team get no hit twice in 10 days, I wasn’t sure there was another notch these guys could hit. I wasn’t sure that when push came to shove, these guys would shove back.

Going into the recent Cubs and Giants series, the Dodgers’ season was poised for a turning point. They came out of the past six days 5-1. Yes, they got no-hit in that one game, but their 2 1/2 game lead is now 6 1/2. Fans should be breathing a little easier today.