The Los Angeles Dodgers begin a season-long 10-game road trip on Thursday with a matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals and a series Clayton Kershaw is expected to pitch in.
Kershaw is scheduled to start the series finale at Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon. He last took the mound on Tuesday, only days removed from losing his mother, Marianne Tombaugh.
“I’m going to make my next start in St. Louis, and then we’ll figure it out from there,” Kershaw said after laboring against the Minnesota Twins.
He collected seven strikeouts in the outing but only completed four innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. Kershaw dismissed the notion that his mother’s death impacted performance in his first loss at Dodger Stadium since June 16, 2021.
“Not a great night pitch count-wise, especially with the extra-inning game [Monday] night,” he said. “Definitely wanted to go deeper in the game. You know, there was not a ton of hard-hit balls tonight. There’s a couple that were, but other than that, just long at-bats.
“Got to give them credit. They put good at-bats on me the whole night and wasn’t able to have any quick innings or anything like that. So I’m fortunate to only give up two, but obviously, would have liked to stay in the game longer.”
Although the 35-year-old is committed to making his next turn in the Dodgers rotation, it is still plausible he first goes on the bereavement list. However, that would need to begin Thursday, as MLB roster rules require a player on bereavement leave to be away from the team for a minimum of three days but no more than seven.
On the season Kershaw is 6-3 with a 2.52 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in nine starts. He began the year in dominant fashion and was named National League Pitcher of the Month for April.
Clayton Kershaw thanks well-wishers
After expressing disappointment with his start, Kershaw offered a message of appreciation to those who had sent their thoughts to the family.
“Just wanted to say thank you, everybody, for the condolences and everything this week,” Kershaw began. “Everybody, fans, people, everybody reaching out. It’s been humbling to see how many people have reached out, and I’m thankful for that. She was a great lady.
“Just thank you for everybody that has reached out. It’s really nice.”
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