One of the best pitchers of his generation, the Dodgers ace, 31, has enjoyed a breakthrough October and soaked up the moment on Sunday after paving the way for a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays and 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven World Series. "Any time you can have success in the postseason, it just means so much," said Kershaw. The elite left-hander's regular-season greatness had, until this year, never fully translated to the playoffs and without him the Dodgers would probably not be in the World Series for the third time in four years.