"Dave, he's already pitched six and a half innings. Should we..."

As the intense game unfolded in the center of the field, the Los Angeles Dodgers' dugout on the first base side saw pitching coach Rick Honeycutt walk up to head coach Roberts and whisper to him.

As the longest-serving member of the coaching staff in the Dodgers, Honeycutt has been the pitching coach since Grady Little's tenure in 2007, witnessing the eras of Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, and now Dave Roberts; he is indisputably a veteran of four eras, holding high regard among the players.

Most importantly, since the Dodgers promoted Clayton Kershaw to the Major League, Honeycutt has been his best guide, helping Kershaw transform from a talented young southpaw to a dominant MLB force, winning three Cy Young Awards – in other words, no one knows Kershaw better than him.

The game is now nearing the seventh inning, and today's starter Kershaw has already faced the New York Yankees' young and powerful lineup almost three times;

As a pitcher who highly relies on control and breaking balls, with the backdrop of declining stamina, continuing to let Kershaw pitch could risk losing control of the breaking ball, allowing the Yankees hitters, who are familiar with his pitches, to crack his pitch, hitting it to the outfield for extra-base hits or even home runs.

Such incidents have happened before; postseason pitching performance data on Kershaw has long confirmed this:

His average ERA is under 3 for the first six innings in most games, absolutely befitting his status as a super ace;

But once you let him pitch another inning, the upcoming seventh inning often turns into a tipping point, allowing the opponent's lineup to break through Kershaw, advancing towards a game victory.

It just so happens that the person on the mound is Clayton Kershaw, a top-tier left-handed pitcher; if it were any other breaking ball pitcher, Honeycutt would have suggested to the head coach to replace him after the second round against the lineup.

In any case, in his view, the Dodgers boast the Major League's deepest starting rotation, and using Japanese and Korean star pitchers like Maeda Kenta and Hyun-jin Ryu as relievers, then handing the game over to Kenley Jansen, the league's top closer, is feasible. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Faced with the suggestion from this veteran of multiple eras, Dave Roberts, standing at the entrance of the Dodgers' dugout, pondered for a while before shaking his head:

"Rick, I understand your concerns... But Clayton has only thrown less than 70 pitches today. What reason do we have to take him out? He's our star player! As the head coach, you know I have to consider many aspects..."

Roberts found many reasons for himself, but at the root, he can be summarized with one sentence: he would take Kershaw out, but not in this situation where he's just pitched six innings and used less than 70 pitches;

However, to prevent Honeycutt's concerns from materializing, the Dodgers' relief pitchers have already gone to the bullpen for warm-ups, ready to come on and defuse any situations.

Judging by the outcome of the top of the sixth inning, Roberts' choice to trust Kershaw was undoubtedly correct:

The lineup rotated to the middle section of the Yankees, and even facing these young, energetic sluggers at the peak of his pitching career, Kershaw swiftly dealt with them with a sharp combination of pitches, drawing cheers from the stands at Dodger Stadium.

At the same time, the offense's struggle to ignite also left Roberts somewhat worried:

In pitching prowess alone, Lin Guanglai this year surpasses Kershaw. He's younger, stronger, and more closely aligns with the ideal template for a postseason pitcher;

The Dodgers' lineup, ranked top three in league offense for the regular season, found no escape in front of the 22-year-old Lin Guanglai, often accepting the fate of being struck out.

The sixth inning ended in a state of coexistence between stability and chaos, ushering in the final stage. When Lin Guanglai saw the Dodgers didn't choose to change pitchers, he realized his chance had come!

Being the first to notice this, he quickly informed all the Yankees' lineup members who were about to play.

"Looks like the Dodgers' coaching staff's old problem has resurfaced... If that's the case, divine opportunities must be seized – we must capitalize on the seventh inning!" Joe Girardi nodded repeatedly after hearing this, urging the players to seize the chance.

Why is the Yankees side so excited? Because allowing Kershaw to continue pitching the seventh inning is seen as a suicidal decision by them:

Yes, Kershaw's form is indeed impressive today, but having an ace with limited endurance and heavily relying on breaking ball quality face the league's top lineup for the third time was Dave Roberts' somewhat overconfident move.

Despite Kershaw's current strong performance, he missed a substantial portion of the regular season's end due to a tight back, only returning just before the postseason;