Barber: Clayton Kershaw back in familiar role of Giant Killer

SAN FRANCISCO - The Dodgers were caught in the current and bearing down on a precipitous, crashing waterfall. They tried to fight the current, but it was too strong. Cut to the Dodgers' faces as the music builds. Cut back to the waterfall. Dodgers. Waterfall.

And then, just when it seemed all was lost, our heroes came to the rescue. The heroes of course being Clayton Kershaw - and the Giants.

Los Angeles' 5-3 win at AT&T Park on Tuesday night quieted a losing streak. And who knows? Maybe it did more. Perhaps this was the game that allowed the Dodgers to pivot once again and send their season back into an upswing. It would be a perfect supporting role for the 2017 Giants.

The Dodgers' season has been one of the weirdest in MLB history. In mid-May they were 22-18, solidly in third place in the National League West. Then they became the most terrifying team of the 21st century, going 69-18 in their next 87 games, winning close contests with such flair and poise that even Giants fans had to feel a twinge of awe.

The Dodgers built a Secretariat-like lead over the rest of the West and took aim at historic win totals.

And then, because this is baseball and baseball is ultimately unknowable, they immediately fell off the treadmill with an awkward thud. It happened so suddenly, it was like an old Kurt Russell movie where the starting catcher finds a creepy amulet and stashes it in his locker and all hell breaks loose.

On Aug. 25, the Dodgers were 91-36 and had lost consecutive games just once since the first week in June. Their division lead was 21 games. Then the trapdoor opened. As you may have heard, LA entered Tuesday's game having lost 11 consecutive games, and 16 out of 17. The Team That Couldn't Lose simply couldn't win. It was a lonely ray of light in an otherwise dismal year for Giants fans.

And even a dose of the last-place Giants didn't immediately cure the Dodgers' condition. Playing here Monday night, in a game that rain delays pushed past 2 a.m., the Giants prevailed 8-6. That seemed to seal the Dodgers' fate. They're going to make the playoffs, no doubt about that. But if you can't even beat the Giants, how will you have a prayer against the Nationals or the Cubs?

Enter Kershaw - or as he's called around here, the Giant Killer.

He's a future first-ballot Hall of Famer and a three-time (and counting) Cy Young Award winner, and he makes things very hard on just about everybody. But he's an absolute bully against the Giants. Heading into Tuesday's game, Kershaw's career record against SF was 20-9, his career earned run average 1.62. That ERA was the second lowest by one pitcher against one team (minimum of 20 starts) among all National Leaguers in the live-ball era, which dates back to 1920. Kershaw-vs.-Giants trailed only the 1.44 that Sandy Koufax rang up against the Mets.

And remember, Kershaw's reign has stretched across all three of the Giants' World Series seasons. It's not like the Northern California guys have been pushovers. They just haven't stood a chance against Clayton Kershaw.

Especially here. In 20 career games at AT&T (19 of them starts), Kershaw is now 12-4 with an ERA of 1.30. The guy thinks he owns the place. And let's be honest, he does.

Not that this was vintage Kershaw. Far from it. The Giants collected six hits against him, including a third-inning home run by Kelby Tomlinson, a most unlikely source. At the start of play Tuesday, Tomlinson was 0 for 14 lifetime against Kershaw, with six strikeouts. He had gone 324 plate appearances without a home run. So of course he drilled a fastball into the left-field seats.

The Giants might have done some real damage against Kershaw, but Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor threw out Nick Hundley at home with two outs in the fourth, by a margin of about two bus lengths.

Things got Giants-Dodgers tense in the ninth inning as the home team loaded the bases against imposing closer Kenley Jansen. But the Curse of Kershaw prevailed, Jansen ended the game by striking out Buster Posey and Nick Hundley in succession, and the Giants fell to 57-90, taking another step in the direction of 100 losses.

Before the game, Giants manager Bruce Bochy admitted that it would bring his players some satisfaction to put a dent in the Dodgers' postseason aspirations.

“I think they understand the importance of every game, how they play a critical role in the standings or who gets there,” Bochy said. “We have a responsibility to perform to the best of our ability. We owe it to everybody in baseball. They get that part. Because we've been on the other side.”

Derek Law, the Giants reliever who would give up an insurance run in the eighth inning, fully agreed.

“Anytime you can do that and kind of ruin somebody's hopes, either their positioning in the playoffs or even making the playoffs, it gives you a little bit of satisfaction,” Law said. “… It's not a goal, but like I say, you take some satisfaction out of it.”

But the Giants didn't get that satisfaction Tuesday. They didn't add to the Dodgers' epic fail. The visitors pulled out of their improbable skid - their longest losing streak since both of these teams played in New York City - and now can go about trying to look like a playoff team again.

I would say that the 5-3 result was a huge disappointment to the home crowd, except the stands here gave the Giants only a small advantage. In the seats in front of me, I saw many Kershaw jerseys, plus a few Jackie Robinsons, a Cody Bellinger or two, even a Steve Sax and a Fernando Valenzuela.

If Clayton Kershaw is going to own AT&T Park, why shouldn't Dodgers fans?