Clayton Kershaw had only completed eight innings in one other start this season. But on Tuesday night, a complete-game shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals was well within reach for the Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed ace.
Kershaw took the mound in the ninth inning having allowed just two hits to that point. He’d recorded 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk, and only thrown 92 pitches. Kershaw didn’t flirt with a no-hitter — Yadier Molina singled in the second — but his stuff was certainly to that caliber.
Kershaw induced a season-best 22 swing-and-misses; 10 on a slider, seven on a curveball, and five on fastball. “It was one of the best ones I think I’ve had in a while,” Kershaw said of his curveball.
“I don’t know about best of the season or not. I think I threw one that (Stephen) Piscotty hit to the wall that was borderline, but every one I was satisfied with, so that was good.”
More encouraging than his curveball having its knee-buckling break, Kershaw’s slider was again sharp. He was throwing the pitch at an increased velocity for much of the season, which didn’t yield the same bite or positive results.
Over his past three starts, Kershaw has reverted back to throwing the pitch in the upper-80s as opposed to low 90s. However, a slider in the dirt is what got away from Yasmani Grandal and allowed Randal Grichuk to score from second base on the wild pitch.
“Tough pitch to block, obviously,” Kershaw said. “You hope it’s just a wild pitch. It was unfortunate, there’s no other way to put it. The way it bounced and where it ended up, a guy gets two bases on a wild pitch. That’s no fun.”
“Our guys kept grinding through it, relievers did awesome, and that’s why it’s awesome to have Logan back. He had a rough night but is the same guy up at the plate, doesn’t change. Grinds through another at-bat, puts a great swing on the ball and wins us a game on his first night back. It’s a testament to him and the way he approaches the game.”
“Once you come out of the game it’s back to my normal routine of watching. I just try to root for our guys. That could’ve gone on for a long time, thankful for Logan on that one.”
The Cardinals tying the game led to some second-guessing Dodgers manager Dave Roberts allowing Kershaw to start the ninth inning and remain in the game after allowing a leadoff single.
“I felt the way he was throwing the baseball, the curveball was as good as it’s been all year, the slider was very sharp, fastball, everything was working tonight,” Roberts explained. “I felt that part of the order, he deserved a chance to complete that game.”
The double-digit strikeout game was Kershaw’s 53rd of his career, with the Dodgers going 42-11 in those starts.
