On top of reaching the end of a six-game road trip, the Los Angeles Dodgers faced the challenge of playing a day-after-night game on Wednesday afternoon. With the temperature in Phoenix soaring above 100 degrees, the roof at Chase Field was closed to provide some relief.
However, the heat turned up on Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers as the game wore on, with the Diamondbacks taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning behind a Rickie Weeks Jr. leadoff home run.
Kershaw responded by striking out the next two batters, and getting Nick Ahemd to fly out. The left-handed ace finished with two runs allowed, 11 strikeouts and one walk over 7.1 innings pitched.
The rare sight of Kershaw issuing a walk — it was just his seventh this season — was only due to umpire Sam Holbrook making a bad call on a pitch that caught plenty of the plate.
The missed call appeared to frustrate Kershaw, who induced a 4-6-3 double play one pitch later. That was met with a vocal response and gesture toward Howie Kendrick as a show of appreciation.
His starts are typically filled with plenty of intensity, though Kershaw seemed to have a little extra emphasis behind him. When another call didn’t go his way, Kershaw leaped into the air and barked at HoHolbrook. The at-bat ended in a strikeout, which led to a jovial yell from Kershaw before he walked off the mound.
After picking up his 10th win of the season, Kershaw conceded he was over the top and needed to be mindful of dialing back his emotions, according to ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
“I was too emotional today,” he said. “I was hopped up. I was screaming and jumping. It doesn’t look good and I was trying not to do that obviously. But emotions get the best of you at times and today. I was a little too animated for my liking so I need to calm myself down a little more, for sure.”
As for what may have been the reason behind his increased intensity, Kershaw joked perhaps an energy drink was to blame:
“I don’t know,” Kershaw said. “Too much Red Bull or something.”
The Dodgers improved to 13-1 in games started by their ace this season. Kershaw recorded double-digit strikeouts a ninth time, and reached double-digit wins for a seventh straight season. He accomplished in the second-lowest number of starts; in 2014, he won his 10th game by his 13th start.
