Kershaw joins up with some old friends — zero runs, seven innings and a W
by Cary Osborne
The bird’s eye view of Clayton Kershaw’s two-strike curveball to San Francisco’s Jung Hoo Lee in the top of the sixth was like something straight out of a cartoon.
The looping pitch was too enticing for Lee, almost to the point where he couldn’t wait for it.
Slow, at 72 mph, and hanging like it was at the top of a rollercoaster, the curveball cascaded and Lee swung through the drop. He swung with such force that his helmet toppled off his head.
With the Dodgers still searching for consistency in their starting pitching, they seemingly have it in the 37-year-old with many miles on him, a few surgeries in his recent past and diminished velocity.
Kershaw threw seven shutout innings in the Dodgers’ 11–5 win against the Giants at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. It was the 65th time in his career that he has allowed no runs over at least seven innings.
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“I think that the quality of strikes, being able to get ahead, putting the ball in play early, being efficient — those are things where we need him to be going forward,” said manager Dave Roberts.
He was that on Saturday against an aggressive Giants lineup. But Kershaw still found some areas to pick at. He said there were a few pitches he’d like to have back. His slider, even though he allowed one hit on it, wasn’t where he wanted it to be.
“Maybe it’s my personality. You never feel great about it,” Kershaw said. “I think there’s always things you want to have back, but the results, ultimately at the end of the day, to win the game, that’s the most important thing.”
It was the first time a Dodger starter has completed at least seven innings since Yoshinobu Yamamoto went seven on May 20 against Arizona. It’s the third time this season a Dodger starter has completed at least seven innings.
Kershaw has a 2.07 ERA over his last four starts. He has been exceptional over his last two. The 18-year veteran has allowed one run and struck out 12 batters to one walk in 12 innings over his last two starts (Saturday and last Sunday in St. Louis).
He struck out five batters, putting him at 2,988 for his career — 12 away from 3,000.
“Yeah, maybe by September we’ll get there. We’ll see,” Kershaw joked. “It’s obviously a very cool thing and starting to get a little more on the forefront of the mind.”
Kershaw pitched with a lead after the first inning thanks to a Shohei Ohtani leadoff home run. Then he pitched with a big lead. The Dodgers were up 7–0 after three innings.
Ohtani’s leadoff homer ended a 46-plate appearance homerless drought. Then he added a second homer in the game in the sixth inning. It was the 250th homer of his career.
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“It did feel like I hadn’t hit a homer in a while,” Ohtani said. “I think the first homer was more significant just being able to score early in the game.”
Teoscar Hernández also homered in the sixth inning. It was his third game in a row with a home run. Miguel Rojas added one in the eighth.
Kershaw joins up with some old friends — zero runs, seven innings and a W was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.