Kershaw collects 209th win, tying Drysdale
LOS ANGELES — With his well being the principle precedence, the Dodgers will probably be strategic with simply how lengthy of a leash Clayton Kershaw will get in every begin the remainder of the common season.
Kershaw, who missed greater than a month with a left shoulder harm, doubtless received’t be at one hundred pc down the stretch. Still, his skill to nonetheless be efficient on the mound will probably be essential for the Dodgers’ probabilities in October.
The doubtless first-ballot Hall of Famer as soon as once more confirmed that he’s nonetheless one of the vital intimidating presences in baseball, permitting only one run and putting out 5 over 5 innings within the Dodgers’ 9-1 blowout win over the D-backs on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium.
Kershaw now has 209 wins, matching Don Drysdale for the second-most in Dodgers historical past. Don Sutton holds the document with 233.
“I think it just means I’ve been here for a long time and I’ve been part of some really great teams,” Kershaw mentioned. “It’s great company. Drysdale and Sutton are two of the best, especially in Dodger history, so it’s cool.”
Kershaw, who was held to simply two innings in his final begin as a result of the sport was postponed resulting from rain, confirmed some indicators of rust early on. The left-hander bought right into a three-ball rely towards the primary 4 batters of the sport, strolling two of them. Kershaw, nonetheless, was in a position to get out of the first-inning jam by getting Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to fly out weakly to heart.
Over the following few innings, Kershaw settled in a little bit, retiring eight of the following 10 batters he confronted. In the fifth, although, he allowed a leadoff homer to Corbin Carroll on his signature curveball. Kershaw’s evening in the end ended after 79 pitches (42 for strikes).
“I don’t know if I ever got going, honestly,” Kershaw mentioned. “That was another one that wasn’t super pretty. … I don’t know if it was rust or just not good, but lots of stuff to work on. Thankful to get through five and only give up one run on the one homer. It wasn’t great, but I’ll take it.”
Though the outcomes have been there for Kershaw, he did see a dip on his velocity. His four-seam fastball was down 1.6 mph and his slider additionally dipped 1.5 mph. But ultimately, Kershaw discovered a approach, like he’s performed as a rule.
“I mean, this guy is one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever seen,” mentioned Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts. “Clearly he didn’t have his best stuff. But he was going to give you five innings, find a way to give us a chance to win a ballgame. When you think you can’t have more respect for a player, he goes out and does something like this.”
The Dodgers’ offense backed him up in an enormous approach, exploding for 9 runs on 16 hits. Seemingly the complete lineup contributed, particularly David Peralta, Jason Heyward and Chris Taylor, who every recorded three hits. The backside of the order has been stellar the previous two video games towards D-backs starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, two top-of-the-rotation arms that the Dodgers may face in October.
In the sixth, it was Mookie Betts’ flip to proceed his quest for a second MVP Award, launching a 428-foot homer, his thirty sixth of the season, surpassing his profession excessive from final 12 months. The Dodgers’ famous person has recorded two or extra hits in 17 of 26 video games in August.
“I have a lot of respect for Merrill and Zac,” Roberts mentioned. “They’ve both had great years and … we just really took great at-bats. We grinded them. We won a lot of big counts, lot of big at-bats. … Just across the board, situationally, we were good.”
