Clayton Kershaw threw two wild pitches on Friday night, with both leading to runs, as he labored — for his standards — through seven innings of work. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ ace allowed three runs (two earned) to the San Francisco Giants, and tallied six strikeouts.
It was a second consecutive start for Kershaw against the Dodgers’ longtime rival. He tossed eight innings, allowed two runs and had five strikeouts at AT&T Park on April 9. Kershaw didn’t come away completely satisfied after the outing, nor was he the second time around.
“It was kind of the same story as San Francisco,” Kershaw said. “Maybe it was a little better tonight. The off-speed stuff isn’t quite there yet. Just keep grinding it out, thankfully got some amazing plays all the way around.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged his ace wasn’t necessarily his usual self, but praised Kershaw for working through the start.
“He gave us seven strong innings, which is what Clayton does. He didn’t have his best stuff, and I think he’ll be the first to say that, but toward the middle of the game he started to get a feel for slider,” Roberts said. “If we make a play earlier, then it could have been a shutout. To not have his best stuff, he still dominated a baseball game.”
Kershaw’s most laborious inning came in the sixth when he threw 31 pitches. San Francisco managed to push two runs across in the frame, but still trailed, 6-3. Through three starts this season, Kershaw has thrown a slider 30 percent, curveball 14 percent and changeup two percent.
“I still have a lot to get better with the consistency of [off-speed] pitches,” he said. “I want to throw a good one every time. It’s definitely not there right now. But, it’s why we play. Just keep working.”
Kershaw and the Dodgers were buoyed early by a Kiké Hernandez solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Hernandez later hit a second solo home run off Madison Bumgarner, then added a two-run double to finish the night with four RBIs.
As for the historic setting with it being Jackie Robinson Day, Kershaw was honored to have been apart of it. “It’s always awesome. I think I’ve pitched at least one other time on this day,” he said. “It definitely means a lot, especially this one being that [Robinson] played for the Dodgers, and [Dave Roberts] being the first minority manager getting to do this.”
