Nightengale: Adam Wainwright may shine as the underdog vs. Clayton Kershaw
LOS ANGELES — He'll be the other guy on the pitcher's mound tonight at Dodger Stadium.
He'll be the guy who won't win the National League Cy Young Award or be hauling in the NL MVP award with it.
He's the guy not being compared to Sandy Koufax, Pedro Martinez and every great pitcher the last half-century.
The name is Adam Wainwright, and by the end of the night he wants everyone to know it.
Wainwright is pitching Game 1 of the National League Division Series for the St. Louis Cardinals against you-know-who: ace Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And no one is giving Wainwright a chance.
No wonder the man is going to this game with a chip on his shoulder, ready to remind folks that if Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in baseball, there's this guy from a Midwest city who at least belongs in the conversation.
"I know it's hard on him," Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday says. "While he recognizes Clayton's excellence and dominance, I think he feels like sometimes he doesn't get the recognition he deserves.
"He won 20 games again, had a (2.38) ERA, is the leader of our staff, and every time we needed a big game, he's given it to us. If you're looking to build a team around as a person or a pitcher, he'd be on top of my list."
He's talking about Wainwright, not Kershaw.
Wainwright is a 20-game winner and has won at least 19 games in four of the last five seasons, but he has gotten all of the attention of a Budweiser Clydesdale.
Well, the Cardinals think, that's about to change.
Wainwright might just turn the NL Division Series upside down in a single night.
"I love it when people don't give us a chance," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny says. "I think a lot of people have written off our chances."
Oh, and how Wainwright, one of the fiercest competitors in baseball, savors it, too.
He took exception Thursday to an innocent question when asked about being overlooked because of Kershaw's season.
"Obviously, it was?" Wainwright asked, his voice rising, his eyes turning cold.
There was no need for any more talking.
Besides, Wainwright realizes, there's no pressure on him in Game 1. It's all on Kershaw.
If the Dodgers win, well, they were supposed to win, with Los Angeles going 20-1 in Kershaw's last 21 starts.
Yet if the Cardinals win tonight and Wainwright shuts down the Dodgers' lethal attack, this series would completely change.
It's a game the Dodgers cannot afford to lose, knowing the series could be over.
Wainwright has that type of impact.
Kershaw has that type of pressure.
It's not much different from a year ago when the Cardinals and Dodgers played in the NL Championship Series. Kershaw was expected to win every game he started. Yet, in his last game of the season, in Game 6, he was knocked around for 10 hits and seven runs in four innings, and the Dodgers were sent home 9-0.
"Why doesn't anyone ask me what it feels like after a win in the postseason," Kershaw says. "It's not fun. Especially because it's your last start. That's the hardest thing about it. Your season ends.
"I had to wait a long time for that next one."
Now, 50 weeks later, here are the two again, with a potential pitching duel for the ages, knowing this game could make or break a season.
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Kershaw and Wainwright might be friends. They have a lot in common. They're devout Christians. They each spend hundreds of hours performing charity work. They're not only the best pitchers on their team, but also the clubhouse leaders.
And they both would love to beat either other's brains in, with neither particularly having a fondness for each other's team.
Wainwright called out the Dodgers in last year's playoffs, irritated at their style of celebrating, calling them "Mickey Mouse" antics.
"I'm sure we rub some guys, some teams, the wrong way," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says. "But that's who we are."
Kershaw scolded the Cardinals for their reckless style of pitching in July, when shortstop Hanley Ramirez — knocked out of the NLCS last year when hit by a pitch — was hit twice by pitches. Kershaw responded this summer by drilling Holliday.
"I think for the most part intimidation is not going to be something we're concerned about," Mattingly says. "Now, we protect our guys, but we're not going to go after anybody. ... The game tells you what to do and what you have to do."
Now they meet again, and although it's a best-of-five series, something tells these teams that this series could be decided by the outcome of Game 1.
Just the way Wainwright wants it.
"This is a different season now," Wainwright says. "I pay no mind to what happened in the regular season. Obviously, Clayton had an absolutely amazing regular season. Now, we go to the postseason and it's anybody's ballgame. This is one game for the rest of our lives."
Who knows, it might be the game he cherishes forever, reminding everyone there's another great pitcher in this league.
You might want to remember his name.