by Cary Osborne
Clayton Kershaw threw a fastball that registered 85.7 mph on Friday night. He threw breaking balls in the dirt. He allowed a pair of home runs.
The evolution of his career has been phenom, Cy Young Award winner, MVP and living legend. It’s now crafty troubleshooter.
Despite some challenges, Kershaw pitched his way through five innings and left with the Dodgers leading. He ended the night eight strikeouts away from 3,000. The Dodgers ended the night with a 6–5 win.
He’s now 3–0 this season and has 215 career wins.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to be a little bit more consistent,” Kershaw said. “I don’t really know how yet, so I’m just trying to work through that a little bit. But overall, I think I have enough to get some guys out. And thankfully, it’s working out right now.”
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Kershaw allowed nine hard-hit balls. More than half of his pitches were out of the strike zone. But he was able to limit damage.
Both Nationals runs crossed the plate on solo home runs — one from second baseman Amed Rosario in the second inning and another from catcher Riley Adams in the fifth inning. Washington was 1-for-8 against him with men on base.
Kershaw has limited opponents to a .218 average with men on base this season. He has allowed four home runs in seven starts — three of them have been solo homers, the other was a two-run homer.
He earned four outs with his curveball on Friday and opponents are now 4-for-24 (.167) against the pitch this season.
His season ERA is at 3.31. His ERA in four starts this month is 2.53. The Dodgers have won all four games.
Kershaw faced a two-on, one-out situation in the third inning and the Nationals’ most dangerous hitter James Wood in the batter’s box.
Wood, who hit three homers and drove in seven against the Dodgers over a three-game series in April, whiffed at a Kershaw two-strike slider.
Then the left-hander struck out Washington rookie Andrés Chaparro swinging at a slider.
“I remember my first times playing 12 years ago when I first debuted playing behind him and know how good he was and how good he is right now,” said veteran infielder Miguel Rojas. “It’s really special knowing that he’s approaching 3,000 (strikeouts) — every pitch counts, every strikeout counts. But for him, I feel like it’s more important to win games. And for him to be 3–0 with really good numbers overall, I’m happy for him that he’s healthy, happy, and able to contribute.”
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Two of the biggest plays of the game happened after Kershaw left the game.
Rojas, in his fourth start this month, hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning off emerging Washington ace MacKenzie Gore. It gave the Dodgers a 6–2 lead.
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After Washington scored twice in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 6–4, they threatened for more with runners on second and third. Michael Conforto saved a pair of runs with an inning-ending diving catch on a liner from Nathaniel Lowe.
Crafty Kershaw gets closer to 3K as Dodgers win a close one was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.