Dodgers NLCS News: If Clayton Kershaw is Batman, Then Rich Hill is Robin

Holy baseball, Batman!

As Los Angeles residents battle traffic on Tuesday afternoon in order to reach Dodger Stadium in time for first pitch of the National League Championship Series, Game 3 starter Rich Hill is cool, calm and collected.

Many hours earlier, he was reflecting back on his time with the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Professional Baseball League, and discussing the heroic efforts of teammate Clayton Kershaw.

Hill compared the three-time Cy Young Award winner to a certain caped crusader after his dominant, seven-inning scoreless performance in Game 2 at Wrigley Field on Sunday night.

"I think Clayton's going to go back to the bat cave and we're all going to hop on the plane and go back to L.A.," Hill said, comparing the Dodgers ace to a superhero. "You know he's got the stuff, but then there's another level."

There's no doubt that Kershaw is the MVP of the MLB Playoffs so far. The Dodgers are 4-0 in games that Kershaw has appeared, whether as a starter, or as a closer like he did in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Nationals when he recorded the final two outs of the game.

But if Kershaw is Batman, then Hill is Robin. Despite allowing four runs in a Game loss at Nationals Park, Hill tied a postseason record with seven strikeouts through the first three innings and was on track to replicate that effort in Game 5 before he was replaced by Joe Blanton with two outs in the third inning.

Hill allowed just one run in that game, and the Dodgers survived and advanced thanks to Kershaw and Kenley Jansen. Hill has yet to win a postseason game in his career, but he's due, and he's inspired by "Batman."

"That was 100 percent inspiring," Hill said in a press conference with reporters before Game 3. "Clayton and Kenley, what they've been doing the entire postseason has been incredible. That's something when I see that, you just never quit, you never give up, you continue to attack."

Hill will look to get the proverbial postseason monkey off his back on Tuesday evening when the takes the mound in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

Fittingly, he faces the team that gave him his first chance in the big leagues, and also put him on the mound in the postseason nearly nine years ago in the Chicago Cubs.

"I'm pitching against the Cubs, I think it's just a coincidence but here we are," Hill said about the cyclical nature of his life in the Major Leagues. "It could be any team, right? Regardless, I'm going to go out there and stay in the moment and not think about things that I can't control."

What is in Hill's control is getting a win in Game 3 and giving the Dodgers a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on Wednesday. If he does that, he truly will be the sidekick to Kershaw, and will be one step closer to the team's first World Series appearance since 1988. 

Your Game 3 starter for the #NLCS #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/9tj3VLPgFl — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) October 18, 2016