With their 1-0 defeat at the hands of the rival San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost a game on Opening Day for the first time since 2010. Their seven consecutive wins were tied for the longest active streak in baseball, and it coincided with dominant performances from Clayton Kershaw.
His start Thursday was a franchise-record eighth on Opening Day. The Dodgers looked to have a clear advantage, as the three-time Cy Young Award winner was opposed by Ty Blach in place of Madison Bumgarner who began the season on the disabled list.
But Blach filled in admirably, and a timely home run by Joe Panik off Kershaw led to the Giants 1-0 victory. Kershaw scattered eight hits, gave up just the one run, and had seven strikeouts in six innings of work.
But overall he still felt there’s room for improvement as he looks to move on from the start, via SportsNet LA:
“It was one of those days with a lot of traffic. Sometimes, when you’re not scoring some runs, you need to keep them there. Fortunate to get out of a few jams there. … Overall, there’s a lot of things I could’ve done better today as far as pitch execution more than anything. I don’t know if there’s one pitch that stands out. It’s not a negative today, necessarily, but there’s definitely a lot of things I can take from this one and try to get better at.”
Kershaw found himself is a bit of trouble from first pitch and for much of the night. He did a solid job of bearing down and getting out of the trouble, though, keeping the Dodgers in the game.
His best efforts were futile, because the Dodgers only managed six hits in the game, with two of those coming courtesy of Kershaw. Los Angeles threatened against the Giants’ bullpen but weren’t able to break through.
Next for Kershaw is an expected start against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, where he’s stumbled on a couple of occasions.
Clayton Kershaw Opening Day starts
| Season | Opponent | Result | Innings Pitched | Hits | Earned Runs | Strikeouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | vs. Giants | Win | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 2012 | @ Padres | No Decision | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2013 | vs. Giants | Win | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 2014 | vs. Diamondbacks (Australia) | Win | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 2015 | vs. Padres | No Decision | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 2016 | @ Padres | Win | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2017 | vs. Padres | Win | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 2018 | vs. Giants | Loss | 6.0 | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 2021 | @ Rockies | Loss | 5.2 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
