A stiff back injury is one of the biggest nemeses for a pitcher, greatly affecting the trunk rotation and kinetic chain transmission during pitching, thereby impacting velocity and control—for Kershaw, his two ace pitches, the slider and curveball, heavily depend on back rotation; otherwise, it easily results in the pitch "not biting the hitter".

Clearly, during the postseason against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kershaw suffered from overuse, allowing the opponent to hit four home runs, and now they're ready to send him back for the seventh inning. Roberts could be said to have completely forgotten past lessons—

In this case, as an opponent, Lin Guanglai doesn't mind adding a new injury to the Dodgers.

In the top of the seventh inning, with the umpire's command, the game resumed amid the rising and falling noises throughout Dodger Stadium:

The first batter up for the Yankees is the seventh batter, Starlin Castro. As the main second baseman, his batting performance has been poor during the postseason, and his batting order has been continually downgraded. If not for his relatively decent defensive ability, with his batting average barely over .200 and a .564 OPS, he would've long been out of the starting nine.

This time, there was no difference in outcome. Kershaw capitalized on Starlin's eagerness to make a contribution and, in clever coordination with catcher Austin Barnes, still used his astonishing 12-6 curveball to end the battle. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Right after Starlin stepped down, Aaron Hicks came up as the eighth batter. Among the Yankees' starting nine, he was one of the few who held a spot mostly due to his defensive skills. His unimpressive hitting stats also followed the former's lead, delivering the second out of the inning.

Hicks' out also gave Kershaw his 11th strikeout of the game—if the Dodgers can beat the Yankees and open with a victory, it looks like this game will become a representative performance for Kershaw's postseason.

Listening to the cheers and applause from the stands behind him, in the Dodgers' dugout, Dave Roberts smiled broadly at Rick Honeycutt next to him, saying, "Rick, what did I tell you? We need to trust Clayton!"

Seeing the superb performance of his protégé he nurtured, Rick Honeycutt nodded, acknowledging Roberts' view:

As a coach who watched Kershaw grow along the way, Honeycutt knew his mindset well—29-year-old Kershaw indeed needs such a representative performance in the postseason and a World Series championship to prove that he is the best pitcher on this planet.

Not only Roberts and Honeycutt on the sidelines, but even Kershaw himself on the mound thought so; with this confidence base, the walk of Todd Frazier, the ninth batter, onto base was seen by all Dodgers supporters as just a minor episode.

When Lin Guanglai stepped into the batter's box with his bat, Dodger Stadium visibly became much quieter: many spectators stood up from their seats, ready to witness the upcoming showdown; even in the noisy bars around the field, people no longer joked, watching intently at the screens near the bar in silence.

Looking at the overly young face 18.44 meters away, Kershaw on the mound took a deep breath: unless something unexpected happens, he would be replaced after pitching this inning; in this case, if Lin Guanglai could become this final one-third, it would be a perfect result for his first World Series journey.

With this thought, Kershaw's gaze became much sharper, releasing that unique superstar aura entirely; feeling the surging pressure from the mound, Lin Guanglai showed no fear, walking straight forward, expressing his readiness to face the challenge head-on.

Although in the previous three at-bats of the game, Lin Guanglai had a groundout to the third base, and two flyouts to the outfield, not achieving any results so far, as the most feared batter of the 2017 postseason, Lin Guanglai has enough confidence in his abilities—nothing else, just his high .540 batting average in the postseason, over 1.7 OPS, and 9 home runs are enough to prove his exceptional competitive state.

After exchanging a glance with catcher Austin Barnes, it didn't take long for Kershaw to quickly pitch the ball after closing his glove: somewhat to Lin Guanglai's surprise, the Dodgers pitcher-catcher duo chose a somewhat adventurous fastball, risking a hit-by-pitch to send the ball inward towards Lin Guanglai.

Faced with the incoming ball, Lin Guanglai's mind quickly weighed the pros and cons: his goal this at-bat was a long hit, or at least to advance Frazier from first base into the scoring position at third base; the left pitcher's fastball somewhat pressed him, after thinking it over and over, he let the ball pass.

The umpire didn't hesitate at all, raising his right arm, ruling the pitch a strike, which ignited the wild cheers of the Dodgers fans—a count of no balls, one strike, with the pitcher slightly ahead.

Soon, the second ball came rolling towards the home plate, facing Kershaw's 89 mph outside slider, Lin Guanglai didn't hesitate at all and decisively swung the bat.

The black-painted bat hit the red and white ball, but Kershaw was indeed Kershaw; the control of the slider's trajectory was incredibly exquisite. The cunningly designed entry point greatly suppressed Lin Guanglai's swing angle, preventing him from exerting full force to pull the ball into the field, and ultimately, it flew into the stands on the third base side.