Nobody is denying that Kenny Rogers is a great pitcher. He has been one of the best for a long, long time.
Make that a long, long, long, long time.
It may be that he is capable of pitching shut-out ball without artificial aides. But that doesn't mean he didn't have something helping him out in the First Inning.
The fact that he went on to pitch a great game is irrelevant to the question, because a) great pitchers pitch great games from time to time, and b) there are a lot of ways to doctor the ball.
He hasn't done well in the playoffs in the past. I believe he pitched terribly for the Yankees and the Mets in the playoffs.