The 2018 season has been a difficult one for Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, having already dealt with two significant injuries, one that was to his arm and the other that was to his back. This marked a third consecutive season that he has suffered from a back injury.
He has looked as healthy as ever in recent weeks, though, and turned in one of his best performances of the season in Friday night’s 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Kershaw pitched into the eighth inning for the first time since Sept. 24, 2017, allowing just six hits and one run in 7.2 innings of work, striking out eight without allowing a walk. It was just the third time all season that Kershaw had at least eight strikeouts.
When discussing his outing, being able to get deep into the game was what Kershaw was most pleased about, via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
“I know that tonight it was a good feeling to win, to go deep in the game and give the ball to Kenley, all that stuff,” Kershaw said. “I’d like to do that again.”
With the postseason rapidly approaching, Kershaw being healthy and starting to pitch like his usual self is definitely a positive sign for the Dodgers.
His velocity was the highest it has been in a while on Friday night as he was touching 93 mph for much of the game, including the later innings.
Overall on the season, Kershaw is now 4-5 with a 2.52 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 91 strikeouts and 17 walks in 89.1 innings of work. As has been the case each of the last few seasons, the injuries could end up benefitting Kershaw in the long run as he will have less mileage on his arm when October rolls around.
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