Clayton Kershaw hadn’t pitched in relief in a Los Angeles Dodgers playoff game since 2019. With his team trailing the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1, Dave Roberts brought in his longtime ace to pitching the 7th inning. What could go wrong?

The Dodger Stadium crowd gave Kershaw a standing ovation as he came out of the bullpen, with another great left-hander, Sandy Koufax joining in the applause. Fans were excited to pay tribute to Kershaw, who announced he’s retiring after the season, but displayed a level of excitement that felt like collective amnesia about what a postseason Kershaw appearance is usually like.

After former Dodger Trea Turner singled and Kyle Schwarber drew a walk, Kershaw retired Bryce Harper when Teoscar Hernandez made a sliding catch of his line drive. Then when Kershaw bounced his first pitch to Alec Bohm, Turner took third but Schwarber got caught off first and picked off. The Dodgers intentionally walked Bohm, Brandon Marsh lined out, and Kershaw was able to say goodbye to the fans of Chavez Ravine with a feel-good performance.

Then Roberts sent him out for the 8th inning. And if there’s one common thread in Kershaw’s many, many playoff meltdowns, it’s the Dodgers manager leaving Kershaw in the game too long. And also Pedro Baez entering the game to pour gasoline on the fire.

J.P. Realmuto led off the 8th and hit Kershaw’s second pitch for a 407-foot home run.

Max Kepler walked. Max Muncy and his dumb glasses couldn’t field a slow roller from Nick Castellanos. Pitcher on the ropes, runner in scoring position? That means it’s the perfect time for Phillies manager Rob Thompson to call for a sacrifice bunt! This time, he didn’t get the lead runner thrown out as Bryson Stott successfully moved the runner over and watching at home, Tony La Russa had a quiet orgasm.

When Trea Turner dumped a single into right-center, both runners scored and it was 6-1 Phillies.

But it wouldn’t truly be a Clayton Kershaw playoff game without an embarrassing coup de gras. Kyle Schwarber made up for his misadventures on the base paths when he golfed a pitch over the right field wall for his second run of the game, sending hundreds of fans that were cheering for Kershaw 15 minutes earlier scrambling for the exits.

At no point did the TBS announcing crew acknowledge that Kershaw had ever struggled in the playoffs before. In fact, Brian Anderson declared that there were “no blemishes on Kershaw’s career” due to anything that happened in the playoffs, which is clearly Russian propaganda.

With the game out of reach, Roberts kept Kershaw in to take a beating, save the remaining relievers and try not to throw up on the mound in front of Koufax. The defense that betrayed Kershaw earlier in the inning rescued him when Kike Hernandez threw out Harper at the plate and Justin Dean made a dramatic catch while crashing into the center field wall.

Kershaw’s final line: 2 IP, 6H, 5R, 4 ER, 3BB, 2 HR. He now has a 4.63 postseason ERA for his career, compared to his 2.53 mark in the regular season. The main culprit is the long ball, with Kershaw giving up more than twice as many home runs per 9 innings (1.5 to 0.7) in the playoffs. There might not be another athlete with a gulf between regular-season and playoff performance larger than Kershaw’s. Aside from James Harden.

This may well have been Kershaw’s last major-league appearance. If the Dodgers advance — they’re still up 2-1 in the Division Series — it’s hard to imagine Kershaw has a roster spot in any future playoff series. L.A. has four other left-handed relievers in the Division Series, plus Justin Wrobleski as another option, and four starters ahead of Kershaw, with Emmet Sheehan as a better swingman option.

Tyler Glasnow faces Cristopher Sanchez in Game 4 at 3:09 on Thursday as the Dodgers try to avoid returning to Philadelphia for Game 5. For San Francisco Giants fans who have enjoyed watching Kershaw struggle in October for over a decade, the schadenfraude may have come to a final, glorious end.